Endless Night
by StarsOfYaoi
Summary: *ItaNaru* Due to Kyuubi's Chakra, Naruto and Itachi are sent back in time. Now they need to cooperate in order to return to the present, but the past hides more than Naruto thought, and things are not as they seem...
1. Prologue: Start

**Rewritten on 03–04–2011**

**StarsOfYaoi:** hello there, people ^^ I bring forth a new ItaNaru fanfic for you. The plot is different (although not unique), but I hope you will like it!

Check the warnings before you start reading the chapter.

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**Rating:** M

**Summary:** (ItaNaru) During a fight, Kyuubi's chakra leaks out and causes a warp. Now, Naruto and Itachi are trapped into the past, and the only way to go back forwards is… to work together.

**Warnings:** yaoi, angst, dark themes. Flames will be used to roast marshmallows. Assumptions about the Uchiha clan will be present. Does not follow canon storyline.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto. Masashi Kishimoto does.

"Talking"

'_Thinking'_

–**Flashbacks, memories, dreams–**

…–…–…–…–…–…–…

**Endless Night**

**Prologue: Start**

_A soft breeze softly curled around their feet as both sensei and apprentice stood still on the top of the hill, looking down at the landscape in front of them; the plain ran free into the distance, disappearing out of sight far, far away, behind more hills and trees._

_The sun was burning strongly above their heads, the grass felt lush and green at their feet, the colours vivid and bright, and the air was warm on their skin –it was truly a wonderful day, one of those days that make you glad to just be alive._

"_I wonder… why am I here?"_

_The silence, that had lingered on his part for three whole days, was finally broken as the younger of the two spoke, his voice vaguely hesitant. The silence had been unusual for him, but this hesitance was just as much so._

_His tone was almost subdued, thoughtful, heavy with deep thinking that had somewhat managed to wash away all strength from those blue eyes of his that were now fixed on his mentor, waiting._

_And yet, despite this, Jiraiya knew there was still life and youth in the blond teen at his side, and he could see it shining somewhere in those blue depths, merely hiding for a moment._

_The question made the white haired Sannin frown in confusion; the sudden, unrequited subject made him stumble for words, a suiting reply to such a weird question._

_Scoffing, he rolled his eyes –blatantly ignoring the seriousness of those words._

_What a… stupid question._

"_Stop fooling around, Naruto," was his reply then. "Grow up, for once"._

_He was annoyed at the teen –annoyed because he had been silent for days, annoyed because of all things to ask, this was the stupidest ever, annoyed because even now, something was nudging at the back of his mind._

_Still, there was no coldness in his tone –it was warm and kind, warmer than he'd ever noticed himself using with others. He cared for this silly, blond teen. That was a given. He was preaching, much like an affectionate father scolding his son._

_All in all, he truly was happy that Naruto was finally speaking again –he had missed that voice; three days were too much of a long time for a loudmouth to not talk, after all._

_Slowly, blue eyes moved to the sight in front of them, face carefully blank._

"_No. I mean it. Why am I still… alive? I should have… I should have been killed long ago, right? Then why…?" striking contrast with his words, his tone held no regret nor sadness._

_He was merely stating what he considered a fact._

_Wondering with pure, untainted curiosity about something so serious and hurtful with eyes that were not glazed over, nor dull. He was still living at his best, still determined, because things were different –but he had to ask anyway._

_Something was changing._

_And Jiraiya knew that Naruto had every right to ask._

"_Naruto…"_

_The memory of the tomb was still too fresh in his mind, and Jiraiya knew it; the small tomb that contained Yonbi no Isonade's Jinchuuriki had been on the side, lonely and forgotten, apart from the other tombs in the cemetery, uncared for and ignored._

_Yet, to keen eyes, it was clear it had been placed where everybody passing by could see it._

_The villagers had been smug, eyes filled with pride, telling stories on how they had killed the demon when she still was an infant, not yet a danger to them –not knowing that the soul of the beast had probably left the body the moment the child had died, and that Yonbi was probably wandering free somewhere now._

_Hatred does not disappear, no matter what. Not even when the receiver of such hatred is a two–years–old girl unluckily destined to be the vessel for a demon. Not even if killing a child was the price to pay –a price too high._

_Life still moved on, even after such loss. They still moved on._

_They didn't care –they didn't consider her life as that of a human, as a useless sacrifice, but as a demon they had exterminated._

_And still, Naruto had ignored the shocked, horrified stares of the villagers and had kneeled in front of the too small grave to pay his respect for the young soul._

_His eyes hadn't been filled with tears, but he had cried on the inside. When he had left the village, silent and not looking at the people around him, Jiraiya had followed him with grave eyes._

_What use was there for anger and vengeance? What good would it do to that little kid?_

_It wouldn't bring her back. It wouldn't help him, either._

_And that was why, three days later, Naruto was still thinking about it, still wondering –why was he still alive? Why couldn't the girl have had a chance as well?_

…–…–…–…–…–…–…

Ocean blue eyes slowly fluttered open.

At first, the only thing he was aware of was the steady, rhythmic beat of his heart (_a slow, comforting sound_), but then his body started waking up, and he became aware of hard, dry soil under his fingers and back –familiar, somehow, and in a way, reassuring.

The sense of drowsiness he felt was threatening to pull him back into unconsciousness, but he fought against it, groaning as the back of his head suddenly exploded into pain as soon as he tried shifting to look around.

Careful to not move too much, he finally managed to focus on his surroundings, blinking rapidly to wake up.

His body felt unusually heavy and oddly so, as if he had wasted too much of his chakra and was thus having difficulties moving his muscles; he felt tired, wanting to simply rest some more and wait for his brain to properly kick in again.

The sky above him was covered with dark clouds, sign that rain was approaching fast; the air communicated him the same message, because there was a lingering taste of dampness that made his skin tingle almost pleasantly.

There were trees on the edge of his vision and the clouds above them were even darker, curling around the nearby mountains like soft, sinister blankets.

Yes, there would be a huge storm coming by, not just passing rain.

His mind registered all of this as if in a haze, and he faintly smiled.

He liked rain, but he liked even more the feeling he had right before rain came –there was a growing feeling of anticipation preceding a downpour, even more accentuated before a storm. He enjoyed that prelude.

Seconds ticked by, then he suddenly gasped and straightened up in shock, memories of the last moments before falling unconscious finally returning to him.

Blond bangs fell in front of his eyes and he pushed them away with a trembling hand, wincing as a sharp pain coming from his forehead alerted him he didn't have his hitai–ate anymore. Cursing his own distraction, Naruto hoisted himself into a sitting position and scanned his surroundings.

_What the hell had happened in there?_

He wasn't quite sure about it, but first and foremost he needed to know… was he alone?

A look around confirmed him that he was, strangely enough, the only person around. He didn't seem to be in prison or whatever, so the teen slowly allowed his shoulders to relax, taking some deep, calming breaths.

Not knowing where he was, or what had happened, at least he was positive that he was kind of safe, at least for the present moment.

Finally he noticed his forehead protector some feet away from him, dirty and with the sash ripped to a certain extent, but still wearable; he held it in his hand and ventured his fingers up to brush his forehead, wincing when he felt a viscous liquid coated there.

Cursing as pain flashed through his head again, Naruto retreated his fingers and found them covered with blood. Awesome, there was a wound on there, and it fucking _hurt_.

It was weird –it shouldn't be bleeding anymore, much less be still there. He was sure he hadn't been unconscious for too long, and he had grown accustomed to having Kyuubi conveniently heal him quickly –this was just a minor hit, so why…

Did Kyuubi find a way to prevent his chakra from healing him? Naruto was aware that the fox didn't willingly share his chakra to heal his body, but… could he block it now?

If yes, then why now? And how?

Stifling a groan, Naruto put his hitai–ate into his pocket. He was still at loss about what was going on, and he was feeling quite lightheaded and dizzy. He needed to concentrate on something –anything.

So, the last thing he remembered was…

"_Naruto–kun, stop this useless resistance"._

Ah, yes. That.

Before everything went berserk, these had been _his_ words, but then stuff had happened afterwards –he'd been attacked, viciously and suddenly. The words still lingered in his mind, though.

Naruto sighed, attempting to recall everything with clarity; he knew from basic healing lessons that he might be suffering from a concussion, and that there could be memory loss, so he had to force himself to remember.

He had to make sure everything still worked in his brain –literally.

So, he had been on his way back to Konoha with the Ero–Sennin. Three years had passed since he'd left, and now he was returning.

He'd trained and grown up during these three years, and he was now determined to be strong –for himself, for his village, and even for Sasuke, who had betrayed everything for the sake of revenge.

Finally, Naruto was coming back to his village, to show everybody he would protect them.

But then, just as he and Jiraiya had stepped through the wall surrounding Konoha through the gates, they had been attacked.

Akatsuki.

Uchiha Itachi and the shark–face who had wanted to cut off his arms and legs, whose name Naruto didn't remember (and didn't want to, actually) had been there.

He still had to shove his words right back at him –and no, Naruto _wasn't_ holding a grudge.

There had been no warning, but they had faced each other in silence for a long while, the two Akatsuki members trying to assess Jiraiya's strength (_as usual underestimating Naruto, but he knew he'd grown stronger… they just didn't know that_).

For the longest time, the two psychopaths had merely stared at them –looking like drama queens, in Naruto's opinion– then they had attacked.

In the blink of an eye, Naruto had found himself trying to escape an emotionless freak with dark hair and a fish–guy who only wanted to cripple him for life, and he had his hands full dealing with that; evading their attacks probed to be more difficult than he'd thought, but he was still doing a good job nonetheless.

He didn't want to die nor to give in to them –and he had no intention of allowing that organization to get Kyuubi, either.

He had dreams. He wanted to be Hokage.

He wanted to get Sasuke back to Konoha.

He was not going to give up and let those freaks get to him.

Jiraiya had taken on both of the Akatsuki members at once, trying to have Naruto run to Konoha for protection –their attackers would not bother get into the village, not with the current Hokage and protection it had– but Naruto had refused, angered at his teacher. His training hadn't been in vain, he could take care of himself.

He didn't want to need protection, but… against Itachi he didn't have a chance –that man was way above his league. Stronger in ways Naruto could not even think about.

The gap between himself and Sasuke was clear in Naruto's mind; he was sure the younger Uchiha was working hard as well, and that by now he'd surely be stronger than before, but Naruto himself had progressed further along.

And yet… Itachi's strength couldn't be compared to either of them.

With Kisame, things were slightly different –Naruto found the man's movements easy to predict, but that sword still sucked chakra, and knowing where Kisame would hit did not offer Naruto any leeway, as the swordsman was strong and very accurate with his actions.

So, Naruto kept fighting the two at Jiraiya's side, not wanting to be a burden but also not wanting to retreat; he wasn't a dangerous demon, he wasn't a monster –he didn't want to end buried six feet under simply because of the fox he housed within.

He would not die.

So, he needed to fight.

Naruto sighed. He'd been angry at himself because it seemed that no matter the amount of training, Itachi was still too strong.

Then… then–

Then Naruto had seen Itachi's hands move in an unknown pattern, probably preparing a Genjutsu, and the teen knew he would be unable to get out from it by himself. So, he had franticly tried to counter it before Itachi could finish his preparations, as Jiraiya was too busy engaging a one–on–one against Kisame and would probably not be able to get to him on time.

Naruto couldn't look away, because any moment of distraction would be fatal…

And then the idea came to his mind.

A great idea –at least at the moment it had been so.

Ask Kyuubi for help.

He had grown to dislike demanding the fox for help in his fights, so during the last three years he'd done that only sparingly, but this… this was different. This was Itachi.

Besides, if Naruto got caught, it would be the end of Kyuubi as well.

It could have been a genial idea, if not for a small detail.

That same day, early in the morning, Jiraiya had tampered with his seal once again (tenth attempt in the last few months); his aim had been to make more of Kyuubi's chakra available to Naruto without having him to ask the demon for it, but the ordeal had been a spectacular failure.

It ended with a pissed off demon, a wounded Jiraiya, whose chakra had been sucked away, and a distressed Naruto, who had felt a change into the seal but hadn't wanted to mention that to the older man. After all, Jiraiya was enough annoyed as it was without him pointing out how much he sucked with sealing.

He had remained silent, hoping he'd have some time to ask Tsunade to fix it when he got to Konoha.

With this clear, Naruto hadn't been completely shocked when tipping into the fox's chakra (the demon had sent him some quickly, this time) Naruto had felt _it_.

He chakra felt _different_ –not completely 'red' like before.

Red was a colour Naruto had come to associate with the demon; red like raw strength and rage, red like burning flames of fire.

But not anymore. It was red mixed with dark brown, a sickly tinge to it that Naruto hadn't liked at all.

Then, nausea had hit him.

The chakra had felt rotten, corrupted. Wasted.

Just remembering that feeling made the blond teen want to throw up.

The chakra from Kyuubi had merged with his own and in result, the Rasengan he had been producing lost its customary electric blue colour, turning the same brown shade and making his hand shake with pain.

His fingers trembled, his skin fizzled… it had definitely felt different.

On the outside, by its colour –on the inside, Naruto felt sick.

All of sudden, Naruto had wanted to run, and not from Itachi, but from himself. From the something he had within him, from this rotten sensation.

Of course he stood his ground and attacked, but the feeling hadn't abated.

And then he had been rendered unconscious. Somehow.

The sick chakra had mixed halfway through with Itachi's humming one, and then there had been an explosion. A huge flash of blinding light had enveloped them, probably alerting the whole country of their presence, and the deafening detonation had sent him flying backwards.

He vaguely recalled slamming into a tree, and then…

Then nothing.

So where was he now? Why hadn't Itachi used the fact that he'd been unconscious to take him away?

There was no trace of the missing–nin anywhere around, not even a lingering chakra signature. Nothing. Not even the fish–guy.

Unfortunately, there was no sign of Jiraiya either.

Had Jiraiya chased them away? If so, why wasn't he here already? He wasn't stupid (not even if it looked like he was), he wouldn't have left an unconscious Naruto alone to go seek help.

There was nobody around.

Why?

To add up to the current situation, he still felt nauseous, even if not as much as he had been at the first contact with the rotten chakra, and as tired and in pain as he was, if Akatsuki were to return he would not be able to fight them. He needed to get back to the village, alert them of his presence, and wait for Jiraiya.

He stood up shakily again, making his way towards where he hoped the village was; he could vaguely see the wall standing proudly behind him, lost within the vegetation, so if he moved the opposite way, he'd surely get to Konoha.

Not trusting his body to be able to handle running on top of the tree branches, he simply walked slowly through the forest, straining his senses in case someone appeared.

'_At last!'_

He felt truly relieved when the forest abruptly ended and he was able to see the Hokage mountain proudly stand in front of him; he could see some of the houses right behind a small hill, so he moved faster, smiling.

He'd missed Konoha a lot during the last few years.

'_I wonder what Tsunade baa–chan's face looks like on the mountain…'_

A new wave of nausea hit him as he looked up, and he cringed –what a way to come back to the village after three years… coming home, wobbling and ready to throw up… definitely splendid way to show how much he'd grown.

Naruto would have surely chuckled at the mental image of an enraged Tsunade blaming it all on Jiraiya, but he was too busy gaping openly at the mountain.

The monument was standing tall and proud above the village's houses and buildings, just as it should be, but…

There were only four heads on it.

Just four.

'_What… what the hell?'_

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**StarsOfYaoi:** I know it's short, but that's simply the prologue. I hope you will drop me a review so I know if you like it!

**Glossary of unfamiliar Japanese words:**

_Sensei_ – teacher, professor, doctor, the term can be applied to these people. It is used to address a person whom you respect, of a higher status than you are.

_Hitai–ate_ – headband.

_Yonbi no Isonade_ – The Four Tailed Demon.


	2. 01: Realizing

**Rewritten on 03/04/2011**

**StarsOfYaoi:** I hope you won't mind having chapters a little on the short side for this fic, because that's what I plan on doing from now on with EN. It makes the flow easier, right?

Thank you to every single person who reviewed!

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**Rating:** M

**Summary:** (ItaNaru) During a fight, Kyuubi's chakra leaks out and causes a warp. Now, Naruto and Itachi are trapped into the past, and the only way to go back forwards is… to work together.

**Warnings:** yaoi, angst, dark themes. Flames will be used to roast marshmallows. Assumptions about the Uchiha clan will be present. Does not follow canon storyline.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto. Masashi Kishimoto does.

"Talking"

'_Thinking'_

–**Flashbacks, memories, dreams–**

…–…–…–…–…–…–…

**Endless Night**

**Chapter 01: Realising**

_Silence was all that greeted the older shinobi as he concluded his long speech, eyes carefully close as he waited._

_Waited for the outburst that wouldn't happen._

_No cries, no anger, not even rage; no loud exclamations of shock or surprise._

_Naruto didn't even question his sanity, nor did he ask if he was kidding, or why would Jiraiya tell him that right __**now**__._

_Why didn't he share this fact with him before._

_A pair of eyes simply stared at him in silence, pondering over his words, reflecting the sky above with the same detachment._

_Jiraiya felt himself hoping for some kind of sound, because… the silence felt worse than any noise would ever have._

_In all his life, the sennin had never felt this bad. And not just bad… useless. Out of place. Did he have any right to be the one to tell Naruto, when no one else had ever planned on doing it? Maybe Kakashi, who had been the teen's first sensei, should have been the one._

_But had Kakashi even known?_

_To Jiraiya, the similarities between his first student and his second one were as clear as a crystal, but not many could say the same, strange as it was._

_And yet, the white haired Sannin knew that he was the only one with the rights to tell Naruto about his lineage. About his family._

_After everything the teen had gone through, trying to protect the village, trying to show them that he was not a demon, that he was worth the respect they had for other shinobi, fighting against the pain, the loneliness, the hatred…_

_Jiraiya knew that Naruto deserved a solid ground where to stand on._

_Someone had to tell him the truth and be done with it._

_The man had really expected the teen to cry. For real. Or at least yell in anger and rage, get angry, furious. Hurt. Maybe yell and hit him, denying his words, saying he was a liar, that it just couldn't be possible._

_Anything but that silence._

_He wanted Naruto to say that it couldn't happen –that family members couldn't sacrifice each other for the sake of… someone else. It couldn't be, right, because then–_

_But no. There was only silence._

_A soft breeze curled around them, reminding Jiraiya that they were standing in a cold, unknown forest somewhere in the middle of nothing and that the fire had died just then. The situation had been familiar, bringing forth memories the older man had wanted to relish, and by doing it he'd finally given into his instinct, and told Naruto the truth._

_Naruto's lips curled into a small, bitter smile, and it shocked Jiraiya to the core; Naruto had been expecting this._

_He'd just had his suspicions (fears? Hopes?) confirmed. As if he'd known it all along, all his life, but had needed someone to say that aloud for it to be really true for him._

_Was that why he'd never asked about it?_

_Was that why he had refrained from wondering?_

_Jiraiya knew that Sandaime hadn't said a word to the teen, deeming him too young to come to terms with such a huge, painful truth._

_This was a legacy. Naruto had a family, he finally had one –a real one. The man who had sealed the beast inside him was his father._

_It wasn't much. The man had died doing it. It was just words. But just… knowing it… really knowing it…_

_Naruto was grateful to Jiraiya for finally giving him something he'd always wanted, even if it was just words. It wasn't useless._

_That was why Naruto simply smiled and nodded, and allowed the older man to hug him close, offering a comfort the teen always sought but had always been denied before._

_Slowly, Naruto hugged him too, and when he finally spoke, his voice was subdued but vibrant with a single powerful emotion –gratitude._

"_Arigatou, Jiraiya–sensei…"_

…–…–…–…–…–…–…

Naruto blinked.

Then he blinked again, confused.

What was going on? He was sure that Tsunade baa–chan had said that the carpenters had finished her face on the mountain in one of her letters, because she had bitched about how she thought the nose was way too big up there.

She had ranted about that for a page and a half, leaving Naruto in hysterical fits of laughter for the rest of the day.

He had so wanted to see Tsunade's face up there. Her letters had helped him feel close to the village while he travelled far from it, with the updates his adopted 'granny' had sent him, filled with details and warmth.

So… why wasn't she on there?

Surely Tsunade wasn't so out of it that just because of a little imperfection in regards to her nose she would smash her head off of the Hokage Mountain, right?

Not to mention that the mountain didn't look like it had been smashed down at all –it looked rather normal to him. No sign someone had worked on there for another face either, though.

"What the hell is going on?" he wondered loudly.

He scanned his surroundings, wondering if anything else was out of the ordinary, but no matter where he'd look at, everything was just the same as he remembered it –same houses, same gardens… maybe a few more trees or the lack of bushes here and there, but nothing felt out of place.

Then what?

Why was he feeling like he should turn around and run away from the village?

Swallowing down his uneasiness he tried to think of a valid reason for this bad feeling; his skin was prickling strangely, and the nausea was back again –something was horribly wrong.

Naruto tiredly lifted one hand to rub at his eyes, sighing when the dizziness retreated slightly as he took a few calming breaths. Something was indeed amiss, and he'd long since decided to trust his sixth sense about that (even Jiraiya had admitted it _was_ reliable, after all).

What to do?

Going to Tsunade would be the best option; she would surely know what to do, or at least he could get her to help with the dizziness and the nausea, if nothing else worked. Besides, he'd missed her a lot and wanted nothing more than to see how she was.

Maybe his bad feeling would disappear, maybe it was just uneasiness at finally being back home, chased by Akatsuki and feeling sick all the while.

Sighing again, Naruto steadied himself and moved towards the tallest building of Konoha. He felt weak again, and once more he blamed Jiraiya for wanting to do stupid shit with his seal –he had been stupid to allow him to, actually.

'_Stupid Ero–sennin… shouldn't have messed up with my seal at all… damn him…'_

He had known what the man could do on his bad days –especially when drunk. There had been times Naruto had to take him away from pubs by force before he could embarrass himself too much…

Three years spent with that perverted man, and yet, Naruto had learned quite a few things anyway. At first, he'd done all the training on his own, alone, whilst the man worked on his damn book or spied on women at the onsen, but then things had changed.

He'd gained a few helpful tips by the many people he'd met on his journey, and some had helped him train. People like he would have never believed existed when still in Konoha.

Still, at times Naruto wondered if that had been all. Jiraiya had only offered him a few pointers here and there, but nothing much, and although Naruto had been grateful for all the stories about Yondaime he had shared, and the companionship, he still felt like he'd wasted three years of his life.

The Akatsuki had been keeping low, so maybe staying in Konoha would have been better…

Training all day, checking out his surroundings, learning new things while Jiraiya peeped at the local onsen (there was _always_ an onsen nearby) or wrote down 'notes' (his books truly got published, which surprised Naruto a lot), or sometimes, in rare occasions pointing out something to Naruto that would help him understand better.

The training he had received from the prized Sannin was, by all means, minimal, though, and Naruto was severely disappointed in the end.

Yes, he knew how to take care of himself, but he had expected the older man to offer him some serious training, not just some words of encouragement –and yet, at the same time, something inside him told him that he had learned and gained something invaluable at the same time.

Naruto had learned a lot –seeing many things, meeting many people… the world surely was bigger than just the Hi no Kuni. So much bigger. He had enough time to think about his village, about his goals, about himself and his strength… he had enough time to accept that if he wanted to do it all, he would have to get there one step at a time.

Despite Jiraiya's attitude, Naruto still respected the man –there had been acceptance, and Jiraiya unlike many others, had been honest with Naruto, and direct– but it was so easy to forget that when the man dropped him to run to the nearest hot spring to spy on women…

But no, Naruto had to be honest; Jiraiya had taught him things, and he had shared his time and his memories, giving Naruto a family through his words.

A small smile on his lips, Naruto stretched his back, feeling his body respond with only a slight discomfort; first things first, he had to see what was wrong with his chakra.

He continued walking towards the Hokage tower, moving slowly; it would have been faster if he chose to run on top of the houses, but he didn't want to put strain on his body, in case he needed all his strength later on, besides… he wanted to savour having come back.

Walking would do.

A soft noise alerted him that someone was approaching; blinking, Naruto layered his chakra down, suppressing it as much as he could out of instinct as two ninja shapes passed above his head, disappearing into the foliage.

Naruto let out a soft sigh, his muscles slowly relaxing; his sixth sense was still nudging at the back of his mind, and he just couldn't feel safe. He'd have to cope with the strange vibes until he spoke with Tsunade, then.

He had learned how to keep his chakra level down thanks to a ronin he had met during his travelling through the rain country; the man had used chakra in ways Naruto had never seen anyone use before, and he had learned how to mask it in order to attack without being seen.

So he suppressed his chakra even more and looked around, trying to see which part of Konoha he was in; this close, it looked like he'd never really been there, because the district was foreign to him.

There weren't many places he hadn't visited when he was younger, so to happen upon one was actually weird…

He'd needed to know every single escape route –being a prankster, he needed to run away quickly if discovered– and he had always liked exploring his village, scouting through the smaller passages… it had been his favourite pastime.

And yet… he couldn't remember those buildings at all. He'd never been there before.

Had Tsunade decided to rebuild some part of the village during the three years he'd been absent? Then she would have written him about it, since she wrote him pages over pages about how her sake stashes had been hidden away by Shizune and she had to order more outside of Konoha, since Shizune had prohibited any sake–ya to sell it to her…

But…

Naruto frowned, looking at the place closely. No, the buildings didn't look that new at all.

If anything, they were overly old fashioned.

This was Konoha, of course. Then…?

There was a couple of old villagers walking towards a small restaurant in the corner of the street, both with darkish hair turning into grey, but he couldn't see their faces as they were walking with their backs to him; four children were playing in a small garden some feet away, looking like they were having fun.

Everything looked… calm. Pacific, almost cosy and yet it felt _off_ in ways Naruto couldn't explain, not even to himself… he also had the feeling he was intruding in some private place, even if it didn't look like it _was_ private.

Just a normal day like many others, was it not?

Biting his lips in hesitation, Naruto nodded to himself and jumped upwards, landing on the nearby tree's branch and hiding behind the thick foliage to keep watching his surroundings; he had felt quite exposed and out of place back down on the ground, and now that he was hidden from sight, he managed to calm down a bit.

A sudden surge of chakra made him jump slightly, and by reaction he suppressed his own even more; he watched in tense silence as a black–clothed shinobi appeared underneath the tree he was on, landing without noise, a sword draped on his back and his face hidden under a painted mask.

Naruto recognized the attire in an instant –it was Konoha's ANBU vest.

He had never really seen an ANBU this close before, except Haku, back in the Nami no Kuni, but that had been another hidden village's outfit, not Konoha's.

The man had a strong, powerful aura, and Naruto felt intimidated and awed as he stared down at him, hiding as best as he could; there was no way the man would not feel his presence, but maybe if he wasn't paying attention, and if he expected chakra signatures to be around, he wouldn't question why there was a ninja above him…

Naruto had always feared and respected ANBU troops; respected, because they were at the Hokage's direct control, and were the strongest shinobi in the village, and fear because one of the troops' specialities was to hunt down missing–nin, kill them and dispose of their corpses.

Naruto had often wondered, with a shiver of fear, what would happen if one of them decided that the Kyuubi's vessel had to die.

The ANBU apparently hadn't noticed his presence (or didn't deem him important, or maybe thought he was a ninja on duty), because after having glanced around, maybe patrolling the street, Naruto wasn't sure, the man disappeared.

Naruto allowed himself to relax even more, relieved.

He didn't know why he was hiding –the ANBU responded directly to Tsunade now, right?– but… but…

'_Why do I keep feeling as if something is wrong?'_ he grunted to himself, annoyed at his own mixed feelings, gripping the tree's bark with his fingers. _'I'm in Konoha and yet I'm hiding as if I had monsters about to get me –I don't understand why this feels so wrong…'_

He knew this was ridiculous –and yet he did not move from his hiding spot.

'_A place that I don't recognise in Konoha…' _Naruto tapped his chin._ 'One baa–chan didn't tell me about…?'_

In the whole village, he only ever remembered avoiding one place, and surely this couldn't be it.

Then, as if fated to, his eyes fell on the insignia of the dango shop at the other end of the square… and he froze.

"This can't be," he murmured, tightening his grip on the bark. "But that sign…"

A small red and white fan that was far too familiar to him.

The only place he had avoided when little had been the compound belonging to his teammate's family, that had been empty for years after the massacre; the Uchiha district, abandoned by everybody except Sasuke, and then also by the _teme_ when he'd defected for Orochimaru.

Baa–chan surely didn't allow other people to live in there, right? Even if she would have allowed it, the Council surely would have rejected the proposal, since their esteem for the clan exceeded that for the Hokage…

This was a joke. Surely, it was just a joke.

And yet… the Uchiha clan symbol dangled in the breeze, people still walked down the street –everybody had dark hair, Naruto noticed. A coincidence. Surely…

Something was missing. Something was wrong.

The Uchiha had been killed. By Itachi.

Naruto's eyes widened; there it was, the only sane explanation –he was caught in a Genjutsu!

What was the meaning of this? Who would want to use a Genjutsu to make it look like the Uchiha were alive again? Why?

Naruto closed his eyes and concentrated his chakra into his eyes, slowly, trying to ignore the assault of nausea that hit him as soon as he tried to reach his chakra flow, but stopped when three shinobi appeared on the rooftop of a nearby house and started scanning their surroundings.

Naruto froze, realising they were feeling him mould his chakra and were wondering where was it coming from.

What if they were real people? What if they were not part of the Genjutsu? Could Naruto chance it out?

Sighing, he stopped trying to use his chakra and suppressed it again, lowering it and trying to pass it off as some inexpert kid playing around with jutsu; if this was a Genjutsu, there was probably someone who cast it and who was keeping the place under control, and Naruto didn't want to attract attention on himself, at least not until he was somewhere safe and found out what was going on.

The trees, the building, everything looked pretty real, so it was either the Genjutsu was only focused on people, or it was a damn good one.

'_Ero–sennin said that if you can't manage to dispel a Genjutsu by a surge of chakra, then you can inflict your body a small amount of pain and disrupt the chakra flow by concentrating on it…'_ he thought, looking down at his hands. _'If I can't use my chakra, then…'_

Picking up one of his kunai from the pouch, Naruto gritted his teeth and slammed it in his arm.

The pain was instant and sharp and blood oozed out from the deep cut, but nothing changed. The shinobi and the villagers were still there, and so were the buildings and the symbol.

"Kuso!" Naruto growled, throwing his kunai away. He watched as it embedded itself on a nearby wall with a soft thud.

The bleeding on his arm slowly stopped, but a quick look made Naruto realise it was not healing.

He didn't like this situation –at all.

"Enough stalling –I need to see the Hokage!" a heavy feeling of dread settling in his stomach, Naruto bit on his lower lip. _'I need to know if this is really a Genjutsu or if there's people living in the district again… and if they are, why are they using the Uchiha symbol?'_

Deciding, against best judgement, that he needed to hurry up, Naruto called forth a small amount of his chakra, trying not to touch Kyuubi's, of course, and grimaced when even that made him nauseous.

A second later he was gone in a swirl of leaves.

The three men patrolling the streets froze on the rooftop, turning as one towards the tree, eyes sharp and contemplative; they had felt the familiar chakra surge but none of them could recognise whom it belonged to, and now it looked like whoever it was had disappeared.

"Might have been some shinobi checking the district, or one of your own," the taller of the three stated, eyes darkened. "But we should go back to the main house and report it to our Leader".

The other two nodded in agreement, and deactivating their Doujutsu the trio disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

…–…–…–…

He stared.

Couldn't take away his eyes from the sight he had in front of him.

Couldn't look away.

A family.

They were walking down the street.

The father was first in line, walking impassively, the pace slow and calculated; his posture was straight, black eyes fixed in front of him, filled with pride and seriousness.

The mother was a few steps behind, delicate and beautiful like a blossoming flower, with silky, charcoal hair swinging in the breeze; she was smiling warmly at her husband with dark eyes filled with love and satisfaction, at times looking back to the remaining two figures.

Kids. One was a child, the other barely a teen.

The older of the two was walking as if the world around him didn't exist, as if he did not belong to the scene, to the family. He had deep, empty eyes of the same colour has both of his parents', and on his otherwise emotionless face there was a small smile that could have fooled everybody else.

It seemed quite real, after all… but not to the observer, still hiding on a nearby tree, watching silently. He knew it was fake.

The last one was the younger child, and he was skipping around, every small thing attracting his attention away from his parents, but never too far from his brother; he was happy and cheerful and cute, dark eyes filled with emotions as he stared with obvious love and devotion at his older brother, small glances almost unnoticed by others.

Everything was the way it had been.

Everything was _the same_.

Perfect. Old. Untouched.

_Wrong_. So deeply wrong.

No bloody corpses in the middle of the streets

No cries of pain

_No despair_

No empty houses.

Itachi's crimson eyes faltered and faded into deep black, the only apparent show of surprise as his control on his chakra faltered momentarily, causing the dispelling of his Sharingan.

Emotions he had thought suppressed suddenly resurfaced all of sudden –unwanted.

This was too much. Even for him… this was too much.

To have to watch this –watch people walk and _live_ without knowing what was going to happen, blind and deaf, while he sat there and knew what their future was going to be…

Itachi had been sure he had lost the capability to feel emotions many years before, after the massacre of his family; everything was buried deeply, with ease, no remorse nor guilt, no pain nor sadness, mechanically, because it was the only way.

The best thing to do.

He had thought they would never come back. He had thought he had better control over himself.

And now…

He had been proven wrong, and it hurt.

Hurt more than anything else ever had before.

A part of him was aching for the sight in front of him, something he had denied himself, and that he was still denying himself even now; it didn't matter anymore, and yet, simply because he could see it, it mattered even more.

He didn't want to keep looking at them. Knowing that their happy faces, their carefree attitudes… everything would break soon, by things caused ultimately by _him_.

It hurt when it wasn't supposed to hurt anymore.

He'd thought he'd be immune to this pain.

And yet _he was not_.

Dark eyes narrowed, the full weight of the situation settling on his chest, then he sharply looked away as he disappeared, without a sound or a flicker, eyes flashing crimson again.

The family kept walking down the street; the father, the mother and a younger boy chatting happily whilst the older son kept staring at the ground in silence, lips twisted into a smile that was a mirror of something that was long since gone.

…–…–…–…

Relief flooded Naruto's senses the moment he saw the Hokage tower.

In fact, he had never been happier to see it, despite his inner sense screaming inside him, even as he tried to ignore it, pleading him to pay attention –_'wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong'_. Without stopping.

'_Run away'._

He didn't listen to it. He didn't want to.

There could be nothing wrong with wanting to see Tsunade. He needed her.

She would make things make sense again.

He smiled, running up a tree that reached the top of the tower and climbing upwards, determined to get to Tsunade's office by the window because it was more familiar.

Not because he didn't want to attract unwanted attention.

He had missed her, and the need to see her overrode his worries.

'_She will help. With Kyuubi, and this rotten feeling I get from his chakra,'_ he thought, concentrating himself on the relief he should be feeling and not on the panic gripping at his insides. _'And then she will yell at Ero–sennin for having abandoned me out of Konoha… well, when he comes around'_.

With a huge (stretching too far, too wide) smile, Naruto pushed himself towards the office's window, picturing in his mind how he would find baa–chan in there –sleeping on her desk with his face hidden amongst piles of paperwork, or maybe drinking sake while ignoring said paperwork…

Naruto boldly peered inside, looking straight at the Hokage's desk…

The room was just the same as it had been when he'd left it, piles of papers stacked everywhere, shelves with books and scrolls in every corner, with a familiar, warm feeling to it.

Naruto's smile turned fonder at the sight, relaxing slightly.

He loved this office and everything it meant. One day he would end in there, and that time it would be on the other side of the desk, as a Hokage himself…

Then his eyes fell on the person sitting at the desk and his heart froze, coming to a sudden, abrupt halt.

He stilled, shocked.

Everything felt numb –his fingers twitched on the branch, his brain trying in vain to process the sight; Naruto gulped down his dry throat, eyes glued on the _wrong_ person sitting at the desk –an old man instead of an old woman, an all too familiar cape on…

No.

His heart painfully thumped back to life, ramming against his chest and making his blood boil, until it was the only sound he could hear above the overwhelming rush of blood in his ears–

Unable to look away, unable to _believe_–

The man inside the building slowly stood up, movements of a man who had to cope with the advancing of old age, stretching his back and making his way towards a nearby shelf, his walk a bit curved forwards due to a constant backache, muttering things that Naruto, on the outside, could not hear.

'_It can't–'_

Wrinkly hands carefully grabbed one scroll and unrolled it, reviewing its contents before returning to his seat.

Grey hair hidden underneath the unfashionable Hokage hat (_the one Tsunade refused to wear, not knowing that Naruto had tried it countless times when younger and that considered it just as loved as the person who once wore it_)…

'_No…'_

A small pipe held firmly between his chapped lips, puffs of smoke swirling upwards, curling and sailing and vanishing in the air…

No, it couldn't be. No.

It _had_ to be a Genjutsu. If Naruto had reservations before, now there was no doubt –not with what he was seeing… not with _who_ he was seeing…

"S–Sandaime–jiji…"

Naruto didn't even notice as tears pooled into his eyes, blurring his sight, because the shock of seeing a person he knew to be dead had dulled the world around him.

Of course, of _course_ –it _couldn't_ be. Sandaime was _dead_. He had died back in the Chuunin exams, by Orochimaru's hands.

Then what… what was happening? Again? A Genjutsu that made it look like the Uchiha… and _Sandaime_… alive. What purpose? Why such a cruel act?

Naruto felt as though his heart was painfully twisted and wrenched through his chest as he stared without blinking at the figure of the third Hokage in the office, like a starved child would to the window of a bakery store.

For a single moment (_it can't be. It can't be, but–_) he allowed himself to not think and just watch, burning in his memory a scene that was too familiar and too painful, looking at all the small details he thought he had ignored before but that now he could recognise.

He'd thought he'd never see this man alive ever again.

How the pipe shifted in his mouth from one side to the other,

How his left eyebrow twitched in annoyance every time he finished checking one paper because he realised he had ten more to look at,

How his eyes returned to the photos on the desk, a smile gracing his lips as he allowed their faces to cheer him up…

Unnoticed, tears started rolling down Naruto's cheeks.

He had not been allowed to give the man a proper goodbye, to mourn him as he should have, and this sight was now too much. There hadn't been time to let Sandaime go before.

Oh, he had missed the man the most, no matter how strong he'd wished to be in front of others, the loss of the third Hokage had weighted on his mind every day; Sandaime had been the first person, and for many years the only one, to treat him as a person, and not as a monster.

Before Iruka, before Kakashi, before Jiraiya and Tsunade, there had been only Sandaime.

Sandaime, who had cared for him, teaching him, protecting him and smiling when he was around.

But he was dead.

The lack of _respect_, this Genjutsu–

Sandaime was _dead_! He couldn't be moving around in the office, he couldn't be doing _paperwork_, he couldn't be there at _all_!

Who would do him such a disrespect as to…

It looked so real. Every little gesture, his expressions. So real…

"No…!"

Naruto didn't even realise he was screaming, loudly at that, far too scared and shocked to think about keeping his voice low. All of this, the Genjutsu, his senses now a loud roar in his ears–

_Cruel_.

Sandaime…

"_No!_"

Not true, not true!

The control over his chakra lost, forgetting he was supposed to be hiding, Naruto screamed and his chakra spiked up, mixing the rotten, disgusted feeling with his unsettled emotions gone wild, mashing everything together into a confused, pained mix.

He cried. Hard. His frame shook without control, and he tried fruitlessly to stop his trembling by digging his nails deep into the bark of the tree, eyes clenching close –escaping the sight.

He couldn't look at that, couldn't–

Fake. Fake_false–not true_

Blood rushed, heart ached –and he screamed

"_NO!_"

_Screamed and screamed and–_

A shadow flickered at his side, casting a shadow over him; Naruto opened his eyes wide again and looked upwards, sight blurred by tears, but the first thing he noticed was the darkened sky.

It was raining, he could feel the cool drops against the heated skin of his face, and right there, hovering over him, he recognised the figure of Itachi.

A thunder exploded around them, unreal and loud and more rain fell–

A hand covered his mouth all of sudden, stifling his screaming. Naruto tried to wriggle out of the hold, but he wasn't strong enough.

Naruto kept crying, unable to stop, but slowly, so very slowly, he managed to get his trembling under control, his muffled shouts and sobs turned into ragged breaths, eyes locked with those of the imposing shinobi so close to him.

Somewhere in the distance, another thunder echoed deeply, followed by a lightening flashing in the sky.

Slowly, Naruto's eyes focused again as he found himself concentrating on Itachi's face instead than on the figure still into the office.

Itachi had a blank, unreadable expression, but his eyes were of a charcoal black instead of the usual crimson. He was looking down at him without speaking, and strangely, as opposed to everything that was _wrong_ –this Konoha, the Uchiha being alive, Sandaime– the sight of the Akatsuki–clothed Itachi was… familiar.

Almost reassuring in its normality –something he expected to see.

Real.

Oddly, it helped Naruto to calm down, until the rush of blood in his ears disappeared.

Had Itachi cast the Genjutsu? If yes, why was he standing still, a hand on his mouth, controlling him? why would Itachi torture him this way when he could have just grabbed the teen when he'd been unconscious without having to worry about controlling him through illusions?

But despite that, in this fake world where Sarutobi Sandaime Hokage was still alive, the Uchiha walked as if nothing was wrong and there were only four heads on the mountain, the sight of something this familiar, even though he was a foe, _was_ reassuring.

It didn't matter if Itachi was an enemy, or wanted him death –or worse.

"You are attracting unwanted attention, Naruto–kun," Itachi murmured, his voice rolling out quietly even in the storm, against thunders and noise. He removed his hand, shifting away from him. "Control your chakra before someone comes looking for you".

Naruto couldn't prevent it –he started to laugh.

_Hard._

Too much –he really couldn't…

"I don't… I don't care… he's alive. A dream. A nightmare. A Genjutsu, or maybe I finally did snap, I don't know…" the words came out clipped, drowned away into a brusque laugh that was cold and uncontrollable, almost bordering into insanity.

If his eyes shifted away from Itachi's face, he could still see Sandaime in the office, even through the blurred window wet with rain.

Still there. Now looking around, as if alerted by Naruto's chakra burst, by its still pulsating source.

Itachi narrowed his eyes as he followed Naruto's vision. The moment he recognised who it was, he also realised it wouldn't take much for the man to understand whom the chakra flare belonged to.

He had to act now, before they were spotted.

Without speaking the taller shinobi leaned down again, pressing one hand on Naruto's shoulder, now shaking because of his laughing, and shifted his free hand into a blur of half hand–seals.

Quickly, instantly, he teleported both of them away in a puff of smoke–

–in that exact moment, Sarutobi–sensei, Sandaime Hokage of Konoha, twisted his head and looked at the tree, eyes sharp and narrowed down.

Only to find… nothing.

Just the rain.

…–…–…–…

Naruto continued to laugh for a long time, unable to keep his trembling nor his laughter down.

His laugh sounded weird, metallic to his ears, but he couldn't stop; no matter how much he tried, even clenching his arms, digging his nails into the skin, drawing blood, gritting his teeth, the muffled, unwanted laugh still continued.

The small pain he inflicted on himself did help, though, as it was different from the pain in his chest and allowed him to slowly focus on his surroundings.

After what felt like hours, the bouts of laugh finally started subsiding, breathless gasps taking place instead.

He could not… how could he accept this?

Someone who was playing with Sandaime's death…

Why?

Who?

Strangely, he didn't think Itachi was responsible of it. Besides, why would he make it so his own family was alive, when he had been the one to kill them all? It made no sense, at least to Naruto.

Even if Itachi was crazy it still wouldn't explain.

In this world where nothing was right, Itachi was the only one who looked the same; he had taken Naruto away before anyone could come to investigate, so it meant Itachi was in the same situation as he was…

How could that be?

Itachi couldn't be caught in a Genjutsu. He had the _Sharingan_.

Besides, Itachi wouldn't have shared the illusion with Naruto if he was the culprit; he wouldn't want to see the family he had killed. Nor Sandaime. Yet, he'd clearly seen the man inside the office.

As he finally calmed down enough to notice, he found tears still rolling down his cheeks and he hastily wiped them away, straightening up a bit.

He had finally his body under control again, but he remained still for a moment more, breathing deeply and looking around to see where he was.

It was a small room, though he didn't know where exactly, but big enough for the both of them to relax; it was bare –there was a twin–sized futon rolled up in a corner, next to a closed armoire, and a desk with a chair.

As the pain at seeing Sandaime finally retreated, rage quickly took its place.

Lifting his gaze up, Naruto finally noticed Itachi at the window of the room, looking outside with… something akin to forlorn in his eyes; how the taller shinobi could express any emotion was out of Naruto's understanding, but the sight made him feel even more upset.

Trying not to focus on that, the teen looked back down to his lap, tired and so very confused.

Was Itachi… was Itachi showing emotion? It was rather unprecedented.

It looked like regret.

Then–

"This is no Genjutsu".

Looking up sharply again, Naruto found himself at loss; the dark haired Akatsuki nin sounded sure of himself, as if he knew exactly what was going on, even though Naruto still doubted it.

If this wasn't a Genjutsu, then…?

"W–what…?" Naruto croaked, his throat raw and dry.

Itachi's appearance wasn't as imposing as it had been three years before. Nor was it evil, or scary. He was still looking the same, but that aura of invulnerability felt somewhat subdued. Just like Naruto had broken down at what he'd seen, so it seemed like… Itachi looked rather down.

It was almost… unreal, again. It didn't matter if Itachi was a missing–nin, or an Akatsuki member… this situation had been a first for him, too; biting his lip, Naruto realised for the first time since he'd met the older shinobi that Itachi was, above all, human.

Even though he didn't look like he was one most of the time.

"This is no Genjutsu," the taller shinobi repeated, his words lingering in the air. "This is… the past".

Oh yeah. Itachi wasn't evil. Nor scary. He was simply plainly insane. Maybe there was something in the Uchiha genes…

"The… past," he repeated, his tone laced with sarcasm.

Oh, absolutely wonderful. Stuck in this Genjutsu (or nightmare, whichever was worse) with a crazy killer as his only companion?

Absolutely fantastic. _'Great, just… great'_.

"I am still unsure whether it is the primal cause, but I think this has something to do with your unstable chakra," Itachi continued quietly. He still wasn't looking at him, eyes fixed on something outside of the window.

Naruto shakily stood up. He had nothing to lose, really; after all, if Itachi had wanted to take him to Akatsuki, he would have done that already –he was that kind of person.

He stepped towards the window, ignoring the pangs of pain in his chest due to his uncontrolled chakra burst, and when he reached Itachi's side, he hesitantly peeked out.

There was a huge garden with grass and even though it was still raining hard, there was someone out there –a few children, some playing under a shelter, splashing each other and jumping in the puddles along the way, laughing and cheering.

There wasn't anything that could have attracted Itachi's attention, Naruto thought looking around… and then his eyes turned blank.

There was another child, right below their window, uncaring for the rain and the other children, and he was training, carefully aiming his kunai at a human–shaped puppet tied to a pole some feet away. The child looked like he had missed most of his hits, because of all the scattered weapons everywhere around the target, but one or two kunai were embedded into the puppet, signal he had managed a few hits, after all.

"Oh. Oh. This is… absolutely not…possible," the teen murmured, pushing himself away from the window. His hands were trembling again. "Well, it seems it's not just you –my sanity is gone, too".

Because with what he was seeing, he actually thought Itachi might have been right.

The kid underneath the window, practicing, was after all a much younger version –_much_ _younger_– of Sasuke.

'_Oh, shit'_.

…–…–…–…–…–…–…

**StarsOfYaoi:** so, this is the end of the first chapter. Please drop me a review?

**Glossary of unfamiliar Japanese words:**

_Hi no Kuni_ – Country of fire.

_Nami no Kuni_ – Wave country.

_Ero–sennin_ – Perverted Hermit.

_Onsen_ – hot springs, basically, either natural or artificial.

_Kuso_ – it's the Japanese version of the exclamation 'shit!' or 'damn!'.

_Genjutsu_ – illusionary technique that attacks the chakra coils around the eyes of a person, creating hallucinations that can be controlled by the caster.

_Doujutsu_ – Special techniques of the illusion or hypnotic type, using eyes. They are a branch of _Genjutsu_, and can include any type of techniques that are meant to cause sleep, disorientation, dizziness, pain or confusion.

_Jiji_ – contraction used to say 'grandpa' in a sort of familiar way, a bit on the mocking side but it's not as an insult. Not as formal as it should be.


	3. 02: Pain

**Rewritten:** 06/04/2011

**StarsOfYaoi:** hi there ^^ here it is, the next chapter of EN! Please enjoy~!

…–…–…–…–…–…–…

**Rating:** M

**Summary:** (ItaNaru) During a fight, Kyuubi's chakra leaks out and causes a warp. Now, Naruto and Itachi are trapped into the past, and the only way to go back forwards is… to work together.

**Warnings:** yaoi, angst, dark themes. Flames will be used to roast marshmallows. Assumptions about the Uchiha clan will be present. Does not follow canon storyline.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto. Masashi Kishimoto does.

"Talking"

'_Thinking'_

–**Flashbacks, memories, dreams–**

…–…–…–…–…–…–…

**Endless Night**

**Chapter 02: Pain**

_When the two were together, they would talk._

_At first, their conversations had no real meaning, talking just to fill an overwhelming silence; they were not used to share so much of their personal space, of their time, with someone else who cared._

_That changed too, after some time._

_Talking made them feel less alone, and slowly both found out that there wasn't need to babble, that they were learning to listen to each other, and that they could venture on talking about important things instead of just filling the silence._

_That was something they'd both needed._

_The days ticked by slowly, with Naruto training and Jiraiya observing, or often disappearing to peep at women or gather more notes –both for his books and information on Akatsuki._

_There wasn't really a method in their daily activities, nothing to tie them but the fact that they were travelling together –they didn't feel they had any right to criticize what the other did._

_Then after the first few weeks spent uneasily, Naruto gathered enough courage to confront his sensei for always coming far too late at night, and Jiraiya scolded his student for training himself to exhaustion every day._

_After that, realising that their habits had to change, at least partly, due to this new 'living arrangement', both agreed to mellow down and settle with something that could work better._

_Naruto would train since early in the morning, but would stop to prepare food for himself at lunchtime and once the sun set, he would lit up the fire and wait for his teacher to come back; Jiraiya would disappear during daytime more often than not, but always returned in the evening so that he could eat dinner with the younger teen._

_The rare times he disappeared for more than one day, he would then bring back something to Naruto –more often than not, simple trinkets, but Naruto appreciated the thought nonetheless._

_It was more than anyone else ever did for him, after all._

_Living in the woods most of the time, Naruto ended up being able to recognise the familiar sounds of the forest –leaves shuffling in the wind, birds chirping in the trees, the noise of fallen leaves under his feet as he walked around._

_And the smells typical of a forest –he'd always loved those._

_It was a weird kind of freedom, but he truly enjoyed it._

_At night the sounds of the fire cracking, the shadows twisting away from the light of the flames, the two of them sitting in a companionable silence while eating dinner… it was comfortable. It was growing to be familiar in a way Naruto had never thought about._

_He liked it even more, and it made him smile._

_Soothing, relaxing… no villagers around to ignore him, no need to be cheerful all the time, the importance of having Jiraiya pay attention to him even if it didn't mean learning new jutsu, with small gestures that made him realise the older man cared for him…_

_And of course, he liked to talk too. Jiraiya could be an idiot most of the time, but he treated Naruto like an adult, even if he called him _gaki_ when in a bad mood still._

_It was months into their travelling that Naruto admitted to himself that the man he called Ero–sennin wasn't just a perverted writer with too much time in his hands._

_At the same time, Jiraiya came to appreciate Naruto's company as well, matching up old memories of travelling with someone similar yet completely different with new, fresh ones._

_Naruto wasn't like his father in many ways, and Jiraiya appreciated that just as much as he appreciated seeing at times small gestures that reminded him that Naruto was still the son of his father._

_The two talked a lot. Jiraiya spent time telling stories of his youth, of his team training under Hiruzen Sarutobi –not yet a Hokage– then of the kids he took in as a sensei; he described a blond student he had in the past, and Naruto's eyes lit up in pleasure, relieving himself by telling his sensei about his life before the two of them met, his worries, his desire to bring Sasuke back home._

_It was comforting to both, but to Naruto it was just a bit more than that –it was like family. A family he'd always hoped to have one day._

_Until one night, after dinner, Jiraiya had approached the subject they had both danced around for the last few months. The words that shattered their peace all of sudden._

"_It's almost time to head back," he had stated, puffing a cloud of thick, white smoke from his tightened lips. His eyes were a notch darker, his knuckles white around his pipe._

_Naruto's shoulders had tensed up, but a smile had wormed its way to his lips –one of those too wide smiles he was used to make back in Konoha._

"_I know," he replied quietly._

_That night, for the first time in almost three years, they didn't speak any further._

…–…–…–…–…–…–…

"Shit… how…?" Naruto had no words to express everything he felt, the whirl of emotions tugging at his throat. He closed his mouth, gritting his teeth.

Again, his feet brought him back to the window, and he glanced out once more, this time unable to take his eyes away from the sight, hands tightly gripping the edge of his clothes.

Sasuke. It was Sasuke.

A younger–looking Sasuke –a younger Sasuke.

Too young.

Forgotten until then, his sixth sense returned roaring through him, and this time Naruto whole heartedly agreed with it –this was wrong. So very _wrong_.

Sandaime still alive. The Uchiha living in the clan district. Still alive.

Itachi at his side…

And it was no Genjutsu.

Naruto joined his hands together in a release seal, concentrating on his chakra again; it didn't matter where he was, he just had to try at least once, to convince himself, one way or the other.

The same rotten feeling washed through him the moment he tried to use his chakra, making his stomach contract in pain and disgust, but he ignored it, using a small portion of it and expelling it from his frame, just as he had been taught.

There was time now, so he worked on doing it well.

No change. The little Sasuke underneath the window didn't even waver, continuing his unrelenting training.

No, definitely no Genjutsu.

"Why is your chakra unstable?" Itachi turned his cold eyes to him with an inquisitive look, making him feel even more uneasy.

Gulping down his nausea, Naruto coughed twice; after two attempts at speaking up with the bile raising in his throat, he managed to rasp out an unsatisfactory answer, eyes still on the young Sasuke.

"Jiraiya messed up with the seal".

Sasuke.

There were hints of what he would become in the future, but Naruto most of all saw the things this Sasuke was that his older self had lost –a childish innocence, maybe. And overall, that smile.

The Sasuke he knew had never smiled the way this cute little kid did when one of his kunai connected with the target.

There was no darkness in his eyes that had appeared along with his family dying.

Same eyes, same hair, same appearance, and yet this was a Sasuke that Naruto had never known, never met, never approached.

Wrong. Wrong. _Wrong_.

A nightmare from whom he could not escape by waking up.

Blue eyes widened as reality finally struck.

He was trapped. Trapped in the past, with only one person at his side, a person he could not trust, at that, and with no idea on how to go back.

Snapping out of his trance, Naruto backed away from the window as if it burnt, the same moment young Sasuke's eyes trailed upwards, the kid shielding his face from the rain with one hand.

"No. No._ No!_"

Itachi was fast, his hand once again coming to cover Naruto's mouth as more hysterical sounds made it past the teen's lips, muffling them so no one could hear; he hadn't had enough time to place more than a couple of chakra–suppressing jutsu on the room, and they could still be heard if they made too much noise.

Naruto tried to wriggle his way out of Itachi's grip, screaming and nailing at the older man's arm, twisting and panicking, wanting to be freed; Itachi was once again faster, blocking Naruto's back against his chest, leaning forwards until Naruto's forehead was pressed against the cold wall, his hand still on the younger teen's lips.

Naruto clawed at Itachi's arms desperately, then at the wall, tears pooling into his eyes, but the man was unrelenting and did not let go.

"Calm down," Itachi hissed softly. "You don't want anyone wandering in here, do you?"

Naruto bit down on the offending hand, awkwardly pressed between the enemy's body and the wall, but slowly calmed down, falling limp in the other's grip too tired to fight anymore.

A few seconds later, still trembling and panicked, his screams died down again.

It couldn't be true. Trapped in the past.

Blocked a–and unable to go back.

He'd have to face everything again if he was unable to go back.

The elder Uchiha didn't even flinch as blood seeped through his fingers from the wounds made by Naruto's pointed teeth; his eyes were still cold as he meticulously took note of Naruto's body trembling against his own, the way his pupils were so contract there was almost only blue.

Finally, when he felt the teen's heartbeat slow down from its frantic pace, he let go, moving away from the other shinobi.

Naruto slumped down on the floor, sobbing quietly, calmer than before but still shaking. This was his third panic attack since he woke up in the past, and he was left with no energy whatsoever.

How. The question was still the same. _How_.

"I suggest you to keep a better control over your emotions, Naruto–kun, I do not want every Uchiha in the compound to run here and find us out," Itachi stated coolly once he was sure the teen would focus on his words.

Naruto choked on his breath, coughing and refusing to give in to the nausea he felt; the Uchiha in the compound?

Itachi's casual statement, as if they currently _were_ in the Uchiha compound.

In the past, _**and**_ in the Uchiha district, too.

With _Sandaime_ still alive.

With a young Sasuke not yet glaring in hatred, not yet nursing a desire for revenge that would burn his life.

They were in the past.

"Is it…" he swallowed thickly. "Is it Kyuubi, then? Is it him the cause of… this?"

His voice was shaking as much as his hands were, and Naruto gasped for air, feeling his lungs constrict. He was still nauseous.

For a moment, he allowed the name of the demon to linger in the air, unsettled with having used it loudly; with Jiraiya, Tsunade and everybody else, he'd never really used the demon's name, as every person that knew about it had often referred to the fox without actually using his name, as if it was a taboo of sorts.

Even Jiraiya despite his ease around the seal, still failed to call the demon by his name, and Naruto had then picked up on it, deciding not to upset them by using it, either.

Yet, now he had used it easily and it felt weird to finally be able to use it like that.

The situation was, after all, far from normal and Naruto frankly didn't care –Itachi knew about Kyuubi, probably more than anyone else except Jiraiya did.

Not to mention… he was stuck in the past with Itachi, with nothing to stop the older shinobi from removing the demon from him. Nobody would stop him, nobody would know, or care…

Or worse –he could go to seek out Naruto's younger version (there _had_ to be one, just like there was a young Sasuke. A young Naruto still surviving through his childhood) and take him away years before anyone could even _care_.

He felt nauseous all of sudden, disgusted for an entirely different reason.

Itachi's dark, piercing eyes stared down at the blond teen's stiffened form, and as if realising what was going through the vessel's mind, he straightened up.

"I have no intention of changing the past, not even slightly. The repercussions on our present, the future, would be unknown. So I won't use this chance to extract the Kyuubi from your body".

He didn't find it important to share with the teen that he wouldn't have been able to get the Kyuubi on his own without the rest of Akatsuki, so he didn't.

"At this current moment in time, Akatsuki does not exist, either. I will not interfere," black eyes took on a dangerous glint, "and I will make sure you do not either, Naruto–kun".

The threat in his tone didn't go unnoticed, and Naruto nodded hastily.

At least it was mostly reassuring –Itachi didn't want to tamper with the past in fear of causing changes that even he could not predict, so for the present moment, Naruto was safe; now, he just had to worry for when they got back to the right time, then…

Maybe he couldn't trust Itachi in any other matter, but the Uchiha surely wanted to go back to their time just as much as he did; somehow, they had to find a way. Both of them. They were in the same situation, trapped somewhere they didn't belong to… they had to cooperate.

Naruto knew it would not be easy, but it was the only solution.

Itachi was still staring down at him, and the blond teen felt he needed to voice his decision to work with the older shinobi, but as he opened his mouth to speak, a sudden wave of pain shot through him without warning, starting from his stomach and quickly spreading everywhere, choking him and clenching around his lungs.

Naruto doubled over with a gasp, feeling something inside him twist and clench, over and over, and a burning sensation rushed up to his mouth, hot and painful and liquid–

He kneeled over, throwing up blood all over the floor.

The disgusting, metallic taste of blood (_his own blood_) filled his senses, blocking out everything else except the pain –overwhelming pain consuming him like a fire as he continued throwing up, his internal organs clenching and twitching inside.

Much to his shock, Naruto found out he couldn't breathe –his sight was dotted by white blinding spots, his lungs constricting with every gasp, more blood coming up until he started coughing, clawing at his throat in an attempt to get –_air_

_He couldn't breathe–_

Coughing and coughing even more, gurgling onto the blood as he continued vomiting more of the crimson liquid all over the floor and himself, dizzy and pained and _afraid_ –_deeply afraid_– but air just wasn't coming, and dark was quickly covering up his vision and–

Itachi had been actually taken aback by the sight, but he didn't allow the surprise to stop him. kneeling at the gasping teen's side, he pressed one hand against Naruto's back and hoisted him up to a sitting position, his other hand slipping under his shirt to come into contact with the burning seal on his stomach.

Gone into his panic, Naruto didn't even notice.

Something was wrong, and Itachi couldn't understand what; he could feel waves of heat scorch his fingers as he kept his hand firmly on the Kyuubi's seal, surely burning the skin of Naruto's stomach all around it.

Gritting his teeth, he concentrated all his attention on feeling the coils of chakra.

There wasn't much time left –Naruto was slowly suffocating on his own blood, and if he wanted to keep the teen alive, he needed to understand what was wrong. _Now_.

A soft green glow slowly appeared around Itachi's fingers as he tried a simple healing jutsu, but his eyes narrowed when it didn't seem to have any apparent effect; Naruto continued gurgling on his blood, his body becoming heavy in his arms as he slumped forwards, lacking the energy to keep itself up.

Blue eyes were widened in shock and pain, and if Itachi didn't act soon, he would asphyxiate and go into shock.

For a second, Itachi found himself at loss; his healing jutsu appeared to be useless on Naruto, so it meant Kyuubi's chakra was somehow interfering with the teen's own. The demon wasn't going to accept something coming from a human, it seemed.

A droplet of sweat slid down his eyebrow as Itachi applied more and more chakra, the green glow intensifying and growing deeper and brighter as he did so.

After a moment, he tentatively shifted his hand away from the seal, moving up to Naruto's lungs, and finally his jutsu started working –as if the thick layer of heat had somehow prevented it from having effect until he moved away from it.

Naruto coughed hard again, his lungs burning now that the bleeding had stopped, and finally air rushed into them. It hurt, but he'd never felt more relieved ever since forever.

For countless minutes, the only noises in the room were Naruto's wracked coughs, followed by his heavy breathing as he lain sprawled on the floor, too exhausted to move.

He could barely think as he took in as much air as he could, but Naruto was quite glad the pain had stopped; his body hurt and tingled and he felt like shit, and he wanted nothing more than a reassurance that this wouldn't happen again… even though he somehow knew this wouldn't be the case.

The fuzzy figure at his side (_Itachi, a part of his mind supplied_) that was kneeling next to him was pressing his hands against the bare skin of his chest and back underneath the shirt, and was inserting huge quantities of healing chakra inside his coils.

Slowly he became aware that Itachi was holding him up so he would not fall face down on the sickening pool of blood. The contact was somehow soothing to his confused mind, so instead of pushing away (this was an _enemy_, after all), he allowed the touch to stay.

After a while one of the hands moved away, leaving behind a strange sensation of coldness, but it quickly returned, this time pressing something small and oval–shaped to his lips; he had no strength to refuse, so he allowed the pill to be put into his mouth and swallowed it, mildly recoiling at the bad taste –it was a blood–replenishing pill.

Then everything turned dark, and he fell into a dreamless, exhausted sleep.

…–…–…–…

Itachi glanced in silence at the sleeping teen.

He had carefully placed Naruto on the futon, checking the seal one last time before allowing himself to relax a bit, and wipe the sweat off of his forehead.

His eyes didn't stay on the blond Jinchuuriki much, shifting to the window again, a flash of longing almost too clear passing into his gaze; the rain outside had finally subsided, but his little brother (_the irony might have had anyone else laughing, but there again Itachi wasn't anyone else_) had given up on his training and had returned home.

Night was approaching quickly.

That was… a rather unexpected situation, and Itachi was out of ideas on what to do; he was stuck in a place (_and in a time_) he had never wished to see ever again, with the most unlikely person ever, and the thought brought a scowl on his otherwise blank face.

The dark haired shinobi looked around the room again, his gaze lingering on the spot where Naruto's blood had been (he had cleaned everything methodically after the teen had fainted), allowing himself to feel some worry.

The young shinobi was sick, heavily so, and the cause was probably Kyuubi; the Jinchuuriki had mentioned something about Jiraiya messing with his seal, so he'd probably need to get a closer look at it later on…

But not now.

Whereas he would have liked to rest –he had to use a lot of his chakra on Naruto, after all– Itachi knew it wasn't time to stay idle.

He needed to leave the room and look around. He had scouted through the whole village after waking up –the whole situation had felt terribly unreal and upsetting– to find a place where he could stay that wouldn't attract much attention, and now there were other things he had to look out for.

It was almost ironic that he'd decided upon _this_ room, of all places to go, but Uchiha Itachi didn't laugh, nor did he want to think too much about it; he'd been away from this place for years, even before the massacre, and coming back in such a situation wasn't really helping.

Still, he had every right to use this room as he pleased, and that was it –at that thought, his lips curled up into a snarl that vaguely resembled a smirk.

After his scouting through the village, Itachi had returned to check on the borders as well, a sneaking suspicion that the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Youko had been stuck together with him in the past; at first he had thought that maybe that hadn't been the case, but then Naruto's chakra had flared up in front of the Hokage office.

Unfortunately, the older shinobi had been right –they were both stuck in the past.

Itachi closed his eyes for a moment, trying to recall any information that could be useful for the situation; there was something about Kitsune Youkai being able to shift through time, but the notion was naught but a fleeting memory he was unable to recall correctly.

He'd never been interested in such myths, and the only reason his interest had been piqued was solely because of his mission regarding Kyuubi.

His attention focused on the sleeping teen again as Naruto shifted slightly, moaning in pain as he unconsciously brought his hand up to curl around his stomach; Itachi let his gaze linger on him for a moment more.

Naruto looked anything but pacific as he slept –he was quite pale, sign he had lost a good amount of blood, and he was still shivering. If not because of the blood replenishing pills Itachi kept with him all the time, the teen would have probably collapsed.

As it was now, the Uchiha knew they would be needed to work together; if the cause of this time travelling was really Kyuubi, then they needed the demon's chakra to go back, somehow, but if the teen was sick, they would not move until he was healthy again.

As simple as that.

What would happen if they were to repeat the chakra surge and end up even more backwards in time?

Black eyes refocused on the sleeping teen once more, and something flickered in the dark orbs now void of the Sharingan.

He observed the teen's features, from the curve of his face to his form underneath the blanket in silence.

They were… they were similar. In a way.

Naruto and… _him_.

As soon as this thought formed in his mind Itachi looked away sharply, refusing to allow himself to go down that path.

He needed to get out of this room. He had to scout through the village again and he had places to go, so he'd have to leave Naruto on his own. He hoped it'd be ok.

It felt degrading. Itachi felt like he had to take care of a baby, but that couldn't be avoided –the Jinchuuriki wasn't a baby and had showed more than once that he could take care of himself, but this situation was not something he could deal on his own. He had suffered through three panic attacks so obviously he wasn't going to be fine.

Besides, if left alone he could do something stupid without thinking things first –like deciding to leave the room without a henge.

Itachi had the sinking feeling that Naruto would get into trouble, but he wasn't going to stick around, not even to rest a bit.

…–…–…–…

Naruto blinked tiredly and resurfaced from unconsciousness, glad there was no bright light to hurt his eyes as he slowly opened them.

His stomach was still twitchy and the skin around the seal felt itchy and tense, but there was no pain and for that he was thankful; at least for now, he was feeling fine.

Taking a shaky breath, Naruto shifted his head to look around the room, noticing he was curled into a futon, the sheets cool against his still heated skin. Groaning faintly, he tried to remember what had happened and cursed loudly when the memory returned to him.

He had started throwing up blood.

Oh, awesome.

The taste still lingered in the back of his mouth, unpleasant and stale, and he gulped down, grimacing in disgust. It was all Jiraiya's fault, as usual. The moment he got back, he was going to kick him to the next world and back, that was for sure.

Curling up underneath the covers, too comfortable to move, Naruto closed his eyes again, gathering enough strength to move; he didn't want to leave the warm confines of his futon, afraid that the pain would start again.

Finally, he forced his eyes open again and glanced to the side. The window was now half closed, probably to prevent anybody outside from looking in, but Naruto could still see a small fragment of sky –it was dark, probably night time.

What time it was?

What hour? How long had he slept?

Blue eyes widened as he noticed the person sitting at the window, shocked at the sight so much that for a moment he couldn't look away; Itachi had taken away his Akatsuki cloak, thus showing his shinobi outfit underneath, an attire similar to the one Jounin wore.

Itachi looked really different like that –the only thing that reminded Naruto that the older shinobi was a missing-nin and an S–class criminal was the slashed hitai–ate he still had on his forehead.

It was… weird.

Maybe it was the fact that since waking up in the past Itachi had never activated his Sharingan, or the fact that he looked relaxed, or maybe just… tired. After all, Naruto had a vague recollection of feeling some chakra pushed through his body before, so it meant Itachi had shared his own.

That would make him tired, but… did he even sleep?

Itachi looked normal. If Naruto hadn't known him, he would have had trouble seeing in this person the same deathly ninja that ruthlessly attacked him to get Kyuubi. That, and the fact that the similarities with Sasuke were many.

Untouchable, as if he lived in a different reality.

Silent, clipped, brooding even, handsome, with the same cool aura around them, the way they acted. Itachi did look more sophisticated than Sasuke ever would, though.

And a lingering feeling, as if… Naruto frowned. As if they had both lost something important.

Itachi hadn't lost anything, had he? Why would he get such a feeling from him?

Well, not that Naruto really cared about that, nor wanted to know –he had always wanted a family, and he wasn't keen to forgiving someone who had murdered his own for who knew what reasons.

And yet… where was the dark, intimidating aura Naruto had seen in their previous encounters? It looked like Itachi was just as confused as Naruto was, and the thought made Naruto feel weird.

Even if Itachi was a genius, this situation was unprecedented even for him, and it was something he had not planned and that he didn't know much about.

In a way, he was at Naruto's same level. It made them work on equal grounds.

Naruto blinked, unsure as to where his thoughts were bringing him.

It wasn't the truth now, was it? Itachi was still stronger and smarter than he was…

With a startle, Naruto realised he was ready to work alongside the older shinobi, ready to put at his back their previous enmity, if only for the time it took for them to get back to their time, and the prospect wasn't as scary as it should have been.

Maybe Itachi had killed his whole family, and hurt Sasuke so much… but there was no way out of this situation unless they cooperated, and it wouldn't be all that bad. They could do it, even if Itachi was anything like his younger brother.

Naruto had worked with Sasuke and managed out quite well –at least until his defection– so he'd do well with the older Uchiha, too.

Smiling a bit, Naruto thought about what Sasuke would say if he knew of Naruto's relations to his brother, and the fact that he'd compared the two siblings not just once.

With that thought still lingering, Naruto finally sat up, holding Itachi's gaze as the older shinobi moved his attention to him, meeting his dark eyes without flinching. Had it been the Sharingan, he wouldn't have dared, that he had to admit, but they were momentarily on the same side.

He had to believe that and have faith.

After all, they were ninja, and it happened for people on opposite sides to have to cooperate during their lives.

"Hn," Itachi narrowed his eyes, and Naruto's smile widened slightly.

Exactly the same reaction he would had expected from the younger brother, indeed.

Itachi's eyes returned to the window, and Naruto realised with a start that maybe he was doing a guard shift to prevent anyone from coming into the room uninvited. Suddenly embarrassed for having slept for who knew how long, despite the blood loss, pain and general weakness, Naruto flushed.

Itachi was a missing–nin, but that didn't excuse Naruto. They both had to keep their strength, as they were equals in here. He'd have to do his own share.

"Hey," he mumbled, not really knowing how to address the older shinobi. It was a strange situation, being able to speak so normally with a former enemy, but he just went with the flow. "I…"

"What is it?" Itachi's voice wasn't harsh, but it wasn't nice either. It was… guarded.

Looking closely, Naruto decided that the Uchiha did look tired. Just a bit.

"I can do a shift now," he replied, eyes burning with determination. Standing up, he was then reminded of the limits of his body as he fell back onto the futon with a strained gasp, his legs giving out under him.

Had Naruto been looking, he'd have noticed a small flicker of amusement shot through Itachi's black eyes, but the glimpse was gone before he could see it.

"Rest," Itachi replied coolly. "You won't be of any use as you are now".

Naruto glared at the other ninja, feeling a surge of rage. "No! I am _not_ useless," there was a flash of hurt in his eyes, but it wasn't because of Itachi's dismissal –it was because they all did the same with him at first, not trusting him to be able to handle things; Jiraiya, Tsunade, and before him Kakashi, and even Iruka had, back at the academy.

Underestimated because he didn't act mature like Sasuke and Sakura did (even though Sakura herself had bouts of immaturity that could rival Konohamaru's)… it wasn't fair. Even if Naruto wasn't a genius, and took to immediate lessons more eagerly than he did with study and long, boring explanations that didn't mean he was stupid.

If he had to show that to everybody by growing stronger, then so be it. He'd do it.

"Interesting reaction," Itachi murmured, a smirk tugging at his lips as he looked away, ready to ignore the teen again.

"I mean it. I can do my part," Naruto continued, making the other ninja glance back at him. "I won't allow you to do everything on your own… we're both stuck in here, so we will both work together to get back home… well, to the right time. No matter what! We can work together, I'll show you".

They were not a Konoha nin and an Akatsuki member anymore. They were just Naruto and Itachi, equally caught into a web of problems. Their past and background didn't mean anything to their current situation.

It was dangerous, and Naruto wasn't stupid, but still…

The Uchiha slowly shook his head. He couldn't really understand this blond Genin at all. He had a good potential, even wanting to ignore Kyuubi's influence, yet he was often downplayed by his brass attitude and heading into battle without strategy.

He hadn't expected the teen to be reasonable and actually want to work together with him –he looked young and firm on his convictions, and surely, had he been someone else from the same village, they wouldn't have as readily accepted to work together with an enemy such as Itachi was.

Was this just stupidity on Naruto's part? But surely he'd know of the dangers Itachi's presence brought forth.

Then what was it? The blond teen was surely quite the enigma.

Was the bright, loud teen just a mask? Or was he really that innocent?

Such a familiar speech pattern, though. The same kind of idealistic crap that _he_ would be spouting. It would bring Naruto straight to his death, just like it had…

"Naruto–kun, you should learn to recognise your own limits, before it's too late," he found himself murmuring, almost to himself, before dismissing the matter entirely.

He mildly wondered why he had even bothered speaking up –Naruto… no, the Kyuubi vessel… would perish under the hands of Akatsuki anyway.

Naruto was equally surprised, not having expected a reply at all.

There was a moment of silence then, which suited the older shinobi but that Naruto found oppressive; he felt like there was a piece missing, and he didn't like the feeling.

"What… what do you mean?" he tried to give an enraged inflection to his tone, but he didn't succeed much, and merely sounded pouty.

In truth, he was almost close to smiling again. This felt so out of reality –here he was, in the same room with a famed nuke–nin… conversing with him. He'd call it arguing, but that would mean Itachi considered him on his same level, and that… wasn't entirely true.

Maybe thinking back about this situation once safe in his Konoha, he'd have a laugh.

Maybe.

Eventually.

Itachi was staring at him again, mildly annoyed, and yet vaguely amused at the same time; usually he'd overlook such a clear provocation (he had enough practice with Kisame, Kami knew it), but he had nothing else to do at the moment, so he decided to indulge himself into a conversation with the teen.

Sometimes he did that with Kisame, too.

"Your ideals… they are useless for a shinobi," he stated. "As long as you keep unchanging, you will never truly explore your true potential".

Naruto's smile vanished. "W–what? I am going to get stronger. Just watch me, _Itachi_," he hissed the man's name with a mocking tone. "And my beliefs make me what I am, I'd never go against them!"

"Konoha dislikes the very essence of you," the other replied evenly. "It will never allow you to reach the position you seem to crave so much. If you become strong enough to claim it, they will only fear you. If you grow weak, they will find you useless and discard you. If you hesitate, they will degrade you, and if you have no hesitation whatsoever, they will be quick to call you a monster…" he paused, eyes narrowed. "And if you become the shinobi you wish to be, they will kill you –because you will be a threat. Shinobi do not have a heart".

Each word stung more than Naruto thought it would. He shook his head, unable to wrap his mind around what the enemy –_enemy. He didn't understand, he didn't_– was saying, denying it. He loved Konoha, and he had wavered in the past, many times, but… he was sure they would respect him one day.

They had to. They _had_ to.

Tsunade cared for him, and she was the Hokage. Jiraiya, Iruka, even Kakashi… they all changed their minds. His friends did too.

It didn't matter if they thought Naruto would never gain the trust he wanted from the other shinobi, from the villagers (_because Naruto knew what they really thought. He knew and recognised their pity, but it was easier to ignore it if you looked away_), because Naruto trusted himself.

He would do it.

He had changed, and he'd change more. Grow strong. Everybody would take notice of him for the right reasons.

They would accept him.

"I believe in myself," he stated quietly. "I will not renounce to my dreams". _'And I'll show them. I don't hold grudges. I still care for them, even if–'_

Itachi was looking at him, unmoving, uncaring. Naruto felt the need to be strong for him too, because in the end, Kakashi always said that a true enemy is the enemy that respects you even through hate.

"I will be accepted. They will understand".

Every trace of amusement was gone from Itachi's eyes the longer Naruto spoke, the more his tone turned serious and determined.

Same words. Same meaning.

Same beliefs.

A different person was talking, and yet the goals were the same, the conviction was the same –and again he was the one to listen.

Naruto didn't care if he was fighting against something bigger than him –just like _he_ had never cared, either.

It didn't matter if there was no apparent way out –if his potential was wasted by his environment… he would still fight his way and blossom fully.

Just like _that person_ had fought hard, too.

_Their_ potential was being ignored, it was being underestimated.

Even if _they_ didn't reach the height _they_ were destined for…

Those stupid ideals would not waver. In the end, one had died, and his dreams had died with him, and now…

Naruto was just another stupid pathetic dreamer, who would soon die without anybody moving a finger to save him.

Same optimistic eyes, lit by the same determination.

Oh, he had seen it happen to _that person_ already, and he was just watching it happen again. It looked like he was destined to even after leaving the village; not even choosing his own path, ignoring the past, would keep him away from this fall.

He had abandoned Konoha to forget the past and what it had caused and grow strong, but in the end all his skills had only isolated him further.

_They_ had the same beliefs, yes, but at least one of them didn't have the strength. But Itachi _had_ the power.

And now, this teen…

Itachi stared at the blond shinobi for a long time, so much that he started fidgeting slightly. He didn't speak anymore, simply watching him. observing him.

For the first time since he left his village, many years before, Itachi found himself wondering whether power without a belief was worth it.

He had his own beliefs too, but they were hidden and unreachable, while this vessel, Naruto, wore them on the tip of his fingers for everybody to see. Thriving.

Naruto lost all his determination under the silent scrutiny of the older shinobi, and looked away after a while; the strange conversation had somehow turned for the worst, and the small flicker of amusement Naruto had been sure he'd seen in Itachi's eyes had gone after Naruto's heartfelt statement.

Now he was just being watched and it was kind of… creepy.

It made him feel uneasy, that look… Naruto couldn't decipher what it meant and yet he understood the message Itachi had wanted him to see with his previous words.

'_It didn't get you anywhere'._

His boasting off about his dream of being Hokage… his decision to be a different ninja compared to everyone else… his determination…

Yes, he won some of his battles. Yes, he gathered a few people that he loved more than he loved himself.

But Sasuke had rejected his friendship and his offer and had gone off to some perverted snake. And the Hyuuga were still divided in two branches, even though Hiashi had changed his own ideas.

He would never waver in his beliefs, but he'd been going at it in the wrong way. Instead of shouting of strength he had yet to possess, he should have worked at it by showing that he had what it took to back up his words.

In a way, Itachi had somehow offered him a different sort of answer, had he not?

There were many things Naruto chose to ignore, because it was easier to pretend, this way. It was easier to say he'd get stronger, but before he left with Jiraiya, he had done nothing at all, even messily learning a jutsu with mere determination.

If he had learned all of his jutsu better, he could have backed up Sasuke during his fight with Haku back in Nami, and maybe the older teen wouldn't have died. He could have stopped him; he would have had more strength to face Gaara properly and stop him quicker.

He could have shown Iruka his determination without having to steal the Scroll he'd learned his Kage Bunshin jutsu from.

So many things he'd overlooked.

So many things he could have done better in his past, without making a fool of himself.

But he _did_ grow up –he _was_ stronger than before, and he _would_ grow even stronger.

He had closed his eyes and pretended with himself, too. Because he wanted to still hope, because hope helped him cope.

Hope that everyone would understand. Hope he could make the difference.

"_You are not invincible, Naruto… you can't save everybody"._

Jiraiya's words echoed in his mind with a bitter edge. Yes, he couldn't save everybody. Just like he had not been able to save that baby that held the Four Tailed demon… she could have been like him, had her village allowed her to live. He hadn't been there at the time. He had wished for it, but it hadn't been so.

He wasn't stupid. He was far from stupid.

And yet, sometimes he wished he was. With all of his heart.

A stupid person could go on through his life without fearing repercussions. A stupid person could keep running ahead without worrying that others might stop him or change his mind.

A stupid person could ultimately ignore reality around him.

Ignore that he was weak and had his limits. That he needed to rest, that he had no reason to keep showing off his strong side when he wasn't –that he could be weak once in a while and just stop and rest.

Naruto curled up on the futon, deep in thought. He was _not_ stupid.

So, just like back then, in front of that tomb he had inwardly wanted to forget, he fell silent, not wanting to talk anymore.

He didn't want to claim a shift anymore, even though he knew Itachi was tired, and turned his back to the older shinobi, shifting until he was hiding away in the futon, ashamed and guilty and unsettled, and tried to sleep.

Naruto needed to rest more. He needed to be able to focus on things and rest, and talking with Itachi, no matter how short their conversation had been, had drained him.

Maybe because speaking with an enemy made him sound more like a _person_ and less like… the enemy.

Naruto sighed, as inevitably his mind put the pieces together.

He'd always thought that by doing things as a shinobi he would always be on the right side, fighting against the 'bad guys'. But thanks to Jiraiya taking him around the countries, he had realised many things were not as he'd previously thought.

The enemy of one day could really turn an ally for the next mission. That was how a shinobi's life was. Naruto knew what this meant, but had ignored this as well, in his attempts to close his eyes to everything.

Haku had been an enemy of his during the mission to Nami, but Naruto had thought of him as a friend moments before he'd died. They had spoke in a friendly way with each other.

A bit like he'd done with Itachi, although more guardedly.

But if that was the truth, then it meant the enemies in his missions were doing the exact thing he was. It meant they were just doing as they were told, like Naruto. Missions had nothing to do with personal beliefs, as a shinobi was paid to aid whoever recruited them, no matter how evil that person could be.

And yet, Naruto had wanted to try and place part of his heart and his beliefs in what he did. Being a shinobi was truly different than his biased, childish ideal. And yet, this was the life he'd picked for himself, and oddly enough, no matter what, he truly _liked_ it.

This situation was exactly that –a former enemy had to work at his side. They had to agree no matter what their personal opinion was.

Naruto sighed deeply, trying to keep silent. He was having trouble falling asleep despite his fatigue.

His brain was filled with thoughts, memories, and most of all, hesitation.

Was Itachi speaking the truth?

Were his emotions hindering him in a way? He'd been running away from reality, so had he to open his eyes and turn into an emotionless shinobi?

Still, he found himself shaking his head. No. he wouldn't want power that made him emotionless like Itachi was. The same need for power that made Sasuke leave to pursue a revenge. Naruto wouldn't want _this_ kind of power, if it made him reject his beliefs.

He would grow stronger on his own, but he would stop running from the truth.

Smiling at this thought, he shifted around, spying the still figure of Itachi in the opposite corner of the room; he had a slightly enhanced sight thanks to Kyuubi, so he could still see the silhouette of the man, unmoving, and his smile wavered.

Itachi would not hurt him in the means of taking Kyuubi out (at least until the two returned to their time) but he had hurt him in a different way altogether, making him question his own life… and that had helped him at the same time.

Being honest to himself would be hard, Naruto knew this, and _yet_ he had to thank the man –he taught Naruto an important lesson with just a few words… Naruto would do anything to be different. He would grow strong and still not lose his heart, nor his soul.

He would not turn into Itachi.

A sudden, unexpected question cleared his confusion. Would people like Itachi still have something important to them? Just like Zabuza had, but decided to deny until near death? Naruto didn't know the answer to that.

And since the two brothers were so similar, the younger Uchiha's face appeared in his mind, together with a different question.

Did Sasuke still consider their friendship important?

Naruto did not know the answer to that, either.

He closed his eyes and allowed sleep to claim him, barely aware of dark, cold eyes flickering in his direction in the dark.

…–…–…–…–…–…–…

**StarsOfYaoi:** so, what did you think of this chapter? Was it good enough for you?

Don't worry about Itachi's words, you will eventually understand later on in the fic. Both Itachi and Naruto have a lot to face :D

_**Glossary: (to those that are not familiar with Japanese)**_

_Gaki_ – brat.

_Kitsune_ – fox.

_Youkai_ – demon.

_Kumo_ – Cloud.

_Raikage_ – Kumo's version of Konoha's Hokage. Each of the five hidden villages has a Kage.


	4. 03: Darkness

**Rewritten: **08/04/2011

**Thanks to all the patient reviewers.**

**StarsOfYaoi:** maybe I have too many fics to write, but alas, at least I still update? Uh, don't kill me! Please read ahead and I hope you like the new chapter!

…–…–…–…–…–…–…

**Rating:** M

**Summary:** (ItaNaru) During a fight, Kyuubi's chakra leaks out and causes a warp. Now, Naruto and Itachi are trapped into the past, and the only way to go back forwards is… to work together.

**Warnings:** yaoi, angst, dark themes. Flames will be used to roast marshmallows. Assumptions about the Uchiha clan will be present. Does not follow canon storyline.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto. Masashi Kishimoto does.

"Talking"

'_Thinking'_

–**Flashbacks, memories, dreams–**

…–…–…–…–…–…–…

**Endless Night**

**Chapter 03: Darkness**

_Jiraiya hadn't noticed it at first, because he was concentrated on more pressing matters (where to find the next onsen, for example, or actually getting Naruto away from Konoha before someone realised where they were headed), but after the first few days, it slowly became more apparent._

_Every step that brought them further away from Konoha made Naruto more distant. Wary._

_His smiles were tight, wavering, and he trained every day more, shutting himself away from the sennin, tiring his body so much he would fall asleep (unconscious) every evening._

_Jiraiya didn't like that, but he didn't know what to do –he wasn't used to having teens around anymore– so he decided to leave him be, using that time to spy at any close onsen or gathering information._

_The truth was, Naruto had never left Konoha for a long period of time ever before –his mission to Nami had lasted only a month, and that was supposed to be a simple escort duty. Yet this time Naruto was going to leave his village for three entire years, and despite it being his own decision, in the end, the more distance piled up between him and Konoha the more it __**hurt**__._

_Naruto was a strong person, but in such a situation, all his secure bases were crumbling, and more than anything else he needed reassurance and comforting words that could quench his doubts, making the separation less painful; he needed someone to tell him that everything would be ok, that he would come back strong enough to get Sasuke back, but he wasn't one to ask these things, and Jiraiya hadn't thought about offering._

_Iruka would have known what to say, but Iruka, just like everybody else, was still in the village, and Jiraiya, of course, wasn't the right person to consider for things like these; the two of them were too similar, both having been alone for too long, both unfamiliar with the meaning of family, both too prideful to admit they wanted each other's company._

_Unfortunately, neither had any intention to start._

_The few attempts at light conversation failed abysmally, rambling about anything and nothing before falling into an uneasy silence._

_It didn't quite matter anymore after a while, and every day was a carbon copy of the previous, with Jiraiya leaving early, biting his lips in guilt but unable to go back, Naruto training and hurting all day so that when the older man came back, he wouldn't be awake._

_Naruto was considering stopping his desperate attempts to get his sensei's attention, seeing as it wasn't going to work and maybe they were just unable to change._

_It hurt and it made him angry._

_They didn't know how to share their thoughts, and the fact that they couldn't understand made it even worse –they didn't want to try if that meant being rejected._

_So day after day their journey took them further away from Konoha, and away from each other at the same time._

_Until one day, a month and a half since their departure from the village, Jiraiya returned to the camp, thinking that maybe he could try talking with the teen, guilt and worry overwhelming his pride and insecurity–_

_Only to find the camp empty. Naruto wasn't there._

_Suddenly, the empty void inside Jiraiya's chest ached in deep pain._

…–…–…–…–…–…–…

It took Naruto a while to wake up completely, drowsiness clinging to his eyes almost stubbornly, but he forced it away, sitting up on the futon.

The first think he noticed was the lack of the 'dark looming figure' in the corner. He was alone.

Itachi was nowhere in sight, and the teen almost sighed in relief; it was obviously morning, which meant he'd slept through the whole night, and was actually feeling quite refreshed.

The previous say had been vexing, and as he thought about it, his cheeks flushed in shame, remembering his tears and the way he had reacted to everything. What a sad imitation of a ninja he was…

Yes, the situation was quite abnormal, and it could be excusable to be shocked, but still a part of him felt ashamed anyway; Itachi had maintained a perfect control over his own emotions –or so it had looked like to Naruto– and had been poised and focused.

Still, Naruto had vowed to never become like Itachi, so maybe it was ok to let emotions rule him, at least in regards to that.

Shaking his head at where his thoughts were heading, Naruto curled on himself, biting his lip; he had acted like a n00b, almost alerting every shinobi in Konoha of his presence, most especially the Hokage –if that wasn't embarrassing, nothing was.

Strangely he felt eerie calm as he focused on his situation. His mind was lucid, focused and sharp, and he analyzed everything he knew as he looked around; he could faintly feel Itachi's chakra permeating the air of the room, but it had an 'old' feeling to it –it was probably a jutsu to protect the room– and it overlapped anything from outside, almost like a thick veil.

He had been better at controlling his chakra coils ever since meeting with an expert in Kaminari no Kuni, an old retired shinobi that had taught him a lot. Naruto wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer, but he had applied himself and the results were more than acceptable.

The man, an ex–serviceman of the troops under direct control of the Raikage, had taken a liking on Naruto and his sunny attitude, accepting to help him out and snorting in disgust as Jiraiya shamelessly peeped at every open spring in the city.

So, he had taken Naruto under his wing.

He had taught Naruto how to search out for chakra barriers and seals of various types, how to scout for enemies and how to hide his own charka in case of danger, even though Naruto had found the last part difficult due to his lack of attention.

Unfortunately Hiroshige (the retired shinobi) only had a couple of weeks at his disposal to help Naruto, as after that Jiraiya had dragged the teen away to follow an interesting lead on Akatsuki –lead that had in the end amounted to nothing.

Still, he had learned quite a lot thanks to him. the man had been an excellent, patient teacher.

Carefully calling forth a light amount of chakra (a quantity so small that didn't brought forth any nausea), Naruto gently prodded around with it, testing where the boundaries of the jutsu were.

He found a slight resistance around the walls, and a stronger one on the window, and nodded to himself.

Itachi had surrounded the room with a layer of masked chakra that would allow anyone inside to use chakra without alerting the people outside; the jutsu was familiar to the teen, as Hiroshige had once explained it to him with examples dating to the Great War.

The jutsu was useful during long battles, because it could be used to hide camp infirmaries where Iryo–nin could heal injured ninja while preventing the enemy from sensing them.

Unfortunately it required a steady amount of charka to be applied and inserted every few hours, and it only worked on stable camps, so despite it being undetectable, it was still easily dispelled.

Satisfied with his prodding, Naruto turned his attention to his own body, glaring down at his stomach; first things first, he had to check it out by himself. Lifting up his shirt, he brushed his chakra–coated fingertips on the seal's outline, wincing as he expected some kind of pain.

He was pleasantly surprised when no twinges occurred, though he felt warmth spread from the spiral outwards; staring down at it, bending his neck into a weird angle, he noticed the skin around the seal was red and swollen; it looked like he had been scorched by the heat as a reaction from yesterday.

Despite that, he felt rather fine, and that made his worry lessen considerably.

With nothing better to do, Naruto yawned and curled inside the futon again, cocooning closer to the wall; without Itachi around, he had all the time to relax and come to terms with the whole situation.

Especially with what Itachi had stated the night before –his words hard hurt Naruto deeply.

They had hit him, especially since after three years spent with Jiraiya had steeled Naruto into trying to ignore everything but his training, doing everything he could for the sole purpose of bringing Sasuke back home.

Even becoming Hokage had taken a step back –it wasn't as important as forcing his friend to reconsider his actions… right?

Maybe this trip to the past would prove itself to be useful, after all; despite all the physical pain he had been subjected to thanks to the seal, and the pain Itachi had unknowingly forced on him, he did feel better now.

His chest ached in a different way, as if some sort of weight was gone from his heart.

Maybe he should have accepted the truth long before then…

Eyes fluttered open to lazily stare at the window, but in truth spaced and looking at something that wasn't there; the young Sasuke… he'd looked so small and yet determined and strong, and thinking about him brought forth a sense of desolation. Even then, thinking about Sandaime hurt even more, because at least in Naruto's present, Sasuke was still alive. Away from home, but alive.

The Hokage… he'd missed the old man a lot, and even now, curled in the futon, staring at nothing, Naruto longed to see him again. He'd barely paid attention to the man back then, not thinking that someone like him could die, but now… all the small details, all the small things, he could only think about them.

He wanted to sniff the disgusting smell of tobacco. He wanted to see him wrinkle his forehead and smile.

After all, in a way Sarutobi had been Naruto's grandparent through and through.

There was a flicker of light on the window, and it attracted Naruto's attention, making him focus on it; the window was almost completely shut close except for a small line of light, and anybody looking from outside would think the room was empty.

It was safe.

Having been pulled out of his musings made Naruto realise he had nothing to do. _'I wonder where Itachi is now…?'_

How did the Uchiha plan to bring them to their right time again? Was it really Kyuubi's fault if they were somewhere in the past? If that was so, how had it happened?

What about his throwing up blood? That _wasn't_ nice.

He wanted to stop worrying so much, but shit –he couldn't.

'_Ero–sennin, I swear on my nindo… if this is really your fault, I will make sure you can reproduce no more next time I see you!'_ he vowed, finally leaving the futon to get closer to the window.

He staggered a bit, but his energy was replenished and he felt much better, and since he now knew that it would be better not to use any chakra for a while, he could be cautious and it would be fine.

Still, he needed to check.

Closing his eyes he stilled, drawing his conscious deep into himself until he could feel his chakra pooling under his skin, vibrating… and there it was –the same nauseating sensation exuding from it.

Gritting his teeth, Naruto refused to back down and nudged his chakra carefully; the feeling was that of something decaying, rotten, disgusting, and he didn't like it at all, keeping himself from touching it in fear of throwing up again.

The fact that he had to pay attention simply because he was alone angered him –he didn't like the feeling of needing someone to 'save him' like a damsel in distress.

Well, Itachi wasn't around to ask stuff about his situation, and he could only go this far with prodding and comparing his thoughts alone. It wasn't helpful. He needed to wait for the spooky Uchiha to come back.

With a brusque movement, Naruto pushed the window open a bit more, allowing more sun to pour inside. There was nothing outside to attract his attention –the small training ground little Sasuke had been in the previous day was empty, with only a few puppet-targets remaining, and the parts of the Uchiha compounds he could see from his position were just houses and rooftops that disappeared in the distance.

Really, it was big. The Uchiha had owned an entire part of Konoha, all for themselves, keeping separate from the rest of the village, and damn, not even the Hyuuga used up so much space. Did it mean the Uchiha had been really that much important?

And then why keep separate? Were they trying to be elitist?

With nothing interesting to look at, Naruto pouted and moved away from the window; Itachi wasn't there, he couldn't use his chakra, there was no one to spy… shit, he needed something to do! He was going to die of boredom!

Still, it wasn't like he would be able to leave the room anytime soon; he had collected enough embarrassment to last him a lifetime, attracting unwanted attention and messing up with people in the village.

He needed to talk with Itachi and then they'd decide, together, what to do.

Why wasn't there anything to do! The room was almost bare, empty of life –why did the stupid older Uchiha choose it? What made it different than any other? It was in the Uchiha district, so it belonged to the family.

Was the owner dead?

Stomping towards the desk, Naruto stared at the layers of thick dust on its surface and nodded, his suspicions confirmed. The room was probably abandoned, no one had entered it in months, probably.

He still had to wonder why.

Looking to the shelf near the desk, Naruto listed all the book titles, wrinkling his nose when he recognised many of them as books he'd used during his academy days, all of them covered with dust as well.

Whoever the person who had lived in there had been, he had obviously had a ninja career.

Reaching for the armoire, Naruto opened the doors wide and checked inside, not surprised to see only clothes neatly piled inside, looking old and dusty but still usable.

All of them were around Naruto's size, maybe a bit bigger, and they all came with the customary Uchiha fan somewhere on them. Only one didn't have it anywhere, and it puzzled Naruto a bit.

He'd thought no Uchiha would want to hide the fact that he was one –maybe it was special clothing for undercover missions?

He should have felt ashamed and guilty for looking around without care, but boredom was a powerful force, indeed. And he hadn't noticed anything particularly personal so far, so he didn't have to feel guilty.

Was this Itachi's old room?

But no, it couldn't be –Itachi was still what, twelve–ish? He still lived in the compound, but with his family, not by himself.

About Itachi's age, Naruto wasn't sure which point in time they had fallen into; Sasuke had looked around six, and the Uchiha massacre had happened… at least a year later, right?

He didn't really know –he sucked at remembering stuff like that, and besides, he hadn't paid much attention back then. Not even to something as big as the decimation of Konoha's village by the hands of a single ninja.

Besides, the Uchiha had only brought forth bad memories, and he only vaguely remembered meeting Sasuke somewhere, after their first year at the academy, and thinking that the other kid had his same eyes filled with pain and rejection.

And there he was, on speaking terms with the person who had caused so much grief to Sasuke, a person he was still friends with (even if Sasuke wanted to deny it).

In his opinion, Itachi had done nothing to him. the mission to get Kyuubi was just that, a mission. Not Itachi's personal goal. But that was a weird train of thoughts.

Naruto huffed and returned to the table, checking in detail what was on it; some bottles of ointment, some bandages, new but dusty, some ornaments, but nothing that attracted his attention, and nothing that looked even vaguely personal.

The owner of the room was the typical Uchiha, then –emotionally stunted.

The drawers on the desk spiked Naruto's hopes up and he tried to open the first, finding it locked much to his chagrin. Pouting, he tried the second and it opened. He whooped.

There was a face–down framed photo, some pens and a bunch of paper sheets, a rusty shuriken… and that was it.

Bummer.

But still, a photo –Naruto grinned, grabbing one corner and started turning it around–

"Naruto–kun".

Itachi's voice coming from behind him made him stiffen and jump in shock, spinning around and slamming the drawer shut with a look of clear shame painted on his face; the older man was standing there, staring at him expressionless, and Naruto felt his cheeks turn red in embarrassment.

He hadn't even heard the man come back…

"A–ah, Itachi!" he tried to calm his racing heart down, slightly panicked. "I… I was just–"

He didn't quite know why he was trying to justify himself, but that didn't make the situation any less awkward.

The Uchiha stared at him for a second more, then he offered him a can of emergency food; he wasn't interested in Naruto's petty argumentations as to why he was peeking around the room –he was used with his Akatsuki companion doing the same all the time… although this was quite different. The room was…

Forcing himself to calm down, Itachi dismissed the flash of annoyance growing inside him with a soft huff.

It didn't matter anymore –it really didn't. it would have been important before, and if he allowed himself to think more about it, it would probably still be important, but he _didn't_ _want_ it to be.

Naruto uttered a small 'thank you' before grabbing the can and popping it open; the emergency rations were tasteless and bland, but they contained enough to help his body survive without real food for a while… he wasn't going to complain.

Ignoring Naruto as he ate, Itachi could not help himself as he looked around, wondering if the younger teen had seen anything in the room that could reveal him who the owner had been.

The chances of that were minimal, of course –Naruto had probably never heard anything about this particular Uchiha. It was ok. Itachi was simply making things difficult for himself.

Naruto blinked and observed the older shinobi as he looked around, his shoulders tense, and his interest sparkled up; why was Itachi this uptight in regards to the room? Was it really something important?

Torn between curiosity and being guilt about his curiosity, Naruto decided it was better not to question the other about it. At least for the moment.

"You should not drop your things everywhere, Naruto–kun," all at once, the Uchiha turned around, shoving something towards the blond teen. "I did explain you how we cannot allow any attention to be drawn on us".

Naruto swallowed on a mouthful and stared at the hand, recognising with a startled gasp the kunai he had used to try and release the 'Genjutsu' just the day before, and that he'd ended up throwing away in a fit of anger.

Flushing crimson again, he grabbed the weapon and put it back into his pouch. Really, Itachi was being careful with all the small details, even going as far as to get his kunai back…

"How is the seal going?"

Surprised, Naruto finally took a good look at his companion, noticing how the man had definitely abandoned his cloak for more normal clothes, which probably allowed him to blend in better.

He'd even moved his slashed hitai–ate from his forehead to his neck, where the slash wasn't even noticeable anymore.

He looked terribly normal –like he'd look if he hadn't betrayed the village.

Itachi was holding a book in one hand, and for a moment Naruto had a disturbing mental image of Kakashi with his 'Icha Icha Violence', which made him snicker in amusement.

"It's… warm," he replied honestly. "I don't think I can use my chakra without a rebound, though. And… it feels weird."

He sighed, not wanting to explain any further; he didn't like the feeling he got with the chakra, but at the same time, he wondered if the older shinobi would consider him an idiot.

Rotten…

Eyeing the book with vague interest, Naruto was able to catch a glimpse of it and read the title when Itachi sat down at his side. It was about demons and the five ninja countries.

Where did Itachi get the book? He was sure that books on subjects like demons couldn't be from Konoha's library, especially since they were trying desperately to hide the fact that one resided in Naruto's own stomach.

Itachi shifted a bit, and Naruto fought the urge to back away.

"I will do a check up on your seal, now," Itachi explained quietly, knowing he'd better have the teen cooperating with him. Naruto had some traits in common with Kisame, so he'd have to talk instead of just signalling things. "Define _weird_".

Naruto pouted.

"Ero–sennin was wondering whether it would be possible for Kyuubi's chakra to be accessible without having to ask the demon for help," he mumbled, licking his sticky fingers after he finished his ration. "Something went wrong. There was a chakra rebound and he decided not to mess with it anymore afterwards".

'_He can interact with the demon –interesting,'_ Itachi thought, filing the fact for later. He'd never had the chance to study a Jinchuuriki before they died from the extraction, so that was a first. Was it just Naruto or did all vessels interact with their demons?

"… then what?"

"Then it started to feel weird," Naruto repeated. "Jiraiya's chakra was absorbed somehow, and Kyuubi was pissed…"

Fighting the urge to roll his eyes, Itachi sighed; Jiraiya was said to be one of the strongest shinobi in the world, taking upon the name Sannin because of that, and yet he still did such stupid things without researching first…

The man was easily stronger than Orochimaru (but there again, it wasn't such a hard thing to achieve) and yet he truly was a freak.

"–and now it feels like something's… going bad inside… as if there is something rotten in here," the blond teen placed one hand on his stomach, right above the seal. He could feel the heat through his shirt. "Not just Kyuubi's chakra though. Also mine".

Itachi's calculating eyes narrowed.

It seemed like the problem –sickness– was quickly spreading if Naruto had been able to feel something was wrong with his own chakra as well. unfortunately, Naruto's term was fitting in with the situation.

Rotten Chakra Syndrome.

It was quite rare, but Itachi had his suspicions confirmed, then –he'd once spent time at Konoha's hospital, checking diseases for studying purposes, and he could still remember it.

Making a mental list, Itachi checked to see if all the symptoms matched.

One of the principal causes for the RCS was usually a drawback from chakra–related operations, like reattaching limbs using chakra not compatible with that of the patient (similar to how non–matching blood types would react in a transplant), or messing up during the creation of a jutsu. It meant two or more different chakra flows clashed together into one body, causing harm to the person as the organism would end up trying to reject not just the added chakra, but also the owner's own.

The chakra would grow unstable rather quickly, and unless extracted from the body, it would burn down the patient's chakra coils, either killing him or, in the best case, render him useless as a ninja. At times, crippled for life.

As with blood, chakra could be of different types, at times not compatible with each other, and if two opposite kinds were to meet, they'd react aggressively –Iryo–nins were still trying to understand how that could work.

Strange as it was, as Itachi had been rather sure Jiraiya and Naruto shared the same type of chakra (wind), Naruto's body had reacted badly to the forced insertion of Jiraiya's chakra.

Most of the time, if the chakra inserted into a non–compatible person was aggressive, it didn't result in anything more than the person being weak and fatigued for a few days as the original chakra converted the incoming addition into the type of the user, and only big transfusion caused such a grave reaction.

This brought Kyuubi into play; the demon's chakra was obviously different, and that was probably what made Naruto unique in this case.

But Kyuubi or not, Naruto's situation was dangerous; the demon's chakra was fighting against Jiraiya and Naruto's, and if they couldn't find a cure for the infection, Naruto would die, or end up crippled and unable to perform as a ninja for the rest of his life.

Not that Itachi cared, but without working chakra patterns, the demon would either die or be freed, and a free Kyuubi would be a bitch to deal with.

The chakra disruption was spreading through Naruto's human coils, and thus the reason he was feeling so bad –it would only get worse with time, and it was a miracle that he was able to stand and walk around… any other person would have been almost comatose by now.

Naruto had quite the strength to keep up at least for a bit more, but his being Jinchuuriki probably had something to do with it, and would maybe make things different.

He needed the Kyuubi to return to their time so he was intentioned in keeping its bearer as healthy as possible.

"Lift your shirt," he told the teen.

Naruto nodded and exposed his belly and seal without a word; Itachi leaned closer to take a look, noticing how Naruto did not flinch nor shift away, and stared at the seal with interest.

He had never been close enough to see it in detail, especially since the last time the two of them had met, there had been a schedule to respect and Itachi had been stopped by the sennin. Now he had enough time to admire the work of art the seal was, and would do it gladly –it was their return ticket, after all.

Kyuubi's power had always fascinated him –Itachi had been considered an adult and thus had known about the sealing– and to think Akatsuki hadn't found a way to get its power without killing both the demon and the Jinchuuriki caused Itachi to frown.

It was a waste to watch the organization convert demons into pure energy, as each Bijuu had special unique powers, most of which unknown to humans, and the containers were the only beings in existence that could unlock those powers.

And they were sacrificed away.

Kyuubi, the strongest of all the Bijuu, had been sealed inside Naruto, who on his own was… an interesting person. Itachi had been barely seven when the Yondaime had sealed the demon inside his son, dying and forcing the retired Sarutobi to come back and resume his work, but he remembered it.

He had met Yondaime only twice before he had died, in company of his father. Bright blue eyes, a sunny attitude –Itachi remembered this of him. The opposite of Uchiha Fugaku, and yet the two had been good friends.

And Naruto was the splitting image of the deceased Fourth Hokage.

Yondaime had been a genius with sealing techniques, one of the few that had completely mastered the art of seals, and the one on Naruto's stomach was his last, but not his best one.

Yet, it was the only one he'd be remembered for.

Once, many years before, Itachi had been interested in sealing; unfortunately, he was a prodigy and his family had steered his attention to different branches –after all, the Uchiha didn't need a sealing master. They needed a killer.

Still, Itachi's brain never could forget the things he learned, and he still remembered enough of what he self–taught himself to see that the seal was untouched and pristine still.

The problem hadn't touched the seal per se, thus, without a doubt, Naruto really had the RCS.

"The seal seems fine," he stated. "Probably it was designed to repel any attempt at disrupting its primary function. With three chakra active on it, it rejected what he felt like a threat".

Naruto nodded.

Itachi stared at him in silence for a moment, then explained what he thought the problem was, and what was the cause of it. Meanwhile, he analysed Naruto's reactions carefully, keeping his health under control. The only person who could truly deal with the RCS properly was, at the present moment in the timeline, travelling somewhere far away from Konoha, drinking and gambling.

He was not a medic–nin, but he had to do his best to heal the teen without any help.

"Damn you, Ero–sennin," he heard the blond mutter as he applied a bit of his chakra on the seal, prodding at it carefully. "I will seriously _castrate_ you–"

The seal flared into action all of sudden, shutting the Genin up and Itachi quickly retracted his hand, barely escaping a wave of heat that scorched the skin around the burning seal.

The raven haired man's eyes narrowed in concentration, and Naruto blinked, unsure of what he was seeing.

They were inches from each other, and it was the first time Naruto had been _this_ close to Itachi without being scared shitless or running for his life while badmouthing him; he stared in almost fascination, automatically comparing the older brother with the younger one.

Itachi was… interesting. A strange person and Naruto couldn't understand him.

People like Konohamaru or Kiba were easy to read, and Naruto could understand them and interact without too many problems; others, like Neji or Gaara, were more difficult, but that only meant Naruto had to try harder. He had succeeded with them, after all.

In a way, both teens had been like him.

Others were completely unreadable in a different way, but Naruto blamed this on the fact that he didn't know much about them –Kakashi, for example, and Jiraiya… even though he could boast of knowing the older man a lot better now that he had travelled with him for three years…

Sasuke… Sasuke was a whole different category. They were rivals, they were maybe friends, or at least Naruto considered himself Sasuke's friend, at least… and he knew the pain the other teen had to go through. And yet, every time he offered his hand to the other, every time he thought he could reach out and finally form a strong bond with him… Sasuke pulled away.

Naruto could understand Sasuke, and at the same time, he couldn't… or else, Sasuke would still be in Konoha, not with Orochimaru, right?

And Itachi…? Itachi was a whole different league too.

Naruto had always considered him an enemy, but deep down, he grudgingly felt a small amount of envy for the other shinobi.

Coming down to it, Naruto respected strength. Not the kind of strength that one could acquire by external aid –he meant the strength that came from hard work, training or personal ability.

A Kekkai Genkai meant very little to him, as he saw it as a gift that most people overlooked –a real shinobi could be strong without having to use their family bloodlines all the time. Learn and grow without relying on them.

No bloodline was perfect, but having a strong one brought people to dismiss enemies, and caused them to start slouching off.

Naruto was proud because he had no bloodline of sorts, and still rival any family's special bloodline. There were clans that learned how to grow strong without having to rely on their Kekkai Genkai, others that relied on them but still could take enemies head on without using them –and others that counted too much on their bloodlines.

Still, Itachi was strong, both with his bloodline and without, and that was why Naruto envied him.

After all, the blond teen had a curious opinion on strength; to him, strength was strength, no matter whom it belonged to; people could respect or fear power, but it didn't change the power itself –just the thoughts of those involved with it.

What made the _real_ difference was how one used their strength.

There was Orochimaru, who was strong but used his power to hurt –that meant Orochimaru was using his strength in the wrong way.

Anko (the crazy instructor at the Chuunin exams) had similar powers since she had been Orochimaru's student in the past –Jiraiya had revealed that to him– but Anko was still a Konoha citizen and despised Orochimaru.

That meant the same jutsu could be used in different ways.

He had met many strong shinobi in his life –Kakashi, Jiraiya, Tsunade– and they based their strength on their own beliefs, following through them. They were strong and used their strength for that –for their dreams.

Itachi… Itachi was an enemy, a missing–nin… yet now they were working together, collaborating, living in the same room. It was almost unreal.

Where did Itachi's strength come from? What kind of belief was he following that had required him to turn his back to Konoha and commit a genocide?

What had Itachi sacrificed, what did he gain?

Naruto was quickly growing curious about that, especially since he had to bear being in his company.

Had someone told him that he'd have to share a room and speak with an Akatsuki member even a year before –let alone three– Naruto would have laughed in their faces. Loudly. And yet here he was, and the Akatsuki member was none other than Itachi. Sasuke's older brother, his obsession, his torturer.

With a soft sigh, Naruto closed his eyes. There was something else that was bothering him, but he couldn't put a finger on it. If enemies could switch sides or work together from one day to the next, wasn't it all due to their missions? They were simply doing their job as ninja; unless a shinobi were to start a personal grudge against another, one couldn't hate another ninja simply for the side they were on –every person had their personal beliefs and path to follow, right? No matter who they were.

Even if others couldn't understand, that didn't mean they were on the wrong side.

So… had Sasuke been caught in Naruto's place, would his hatred blind him enough that he'd still antagonize his brother in order to placate his thirst for revenge, or would he try working together with Itachi in order to go back to their time?

'_I think he would have fought against his brother no matter what, that teme…'_ Naruto groaned. _'He would probably prefer being stuck in the past than work with Itachi…'_

Or worse, Sasuke would try to change the past itself so his family would be spared.

Blinking, he listed all the people he knew, wondering if any of them would rush blindly against Itachi… and realised that none of them would. Naruto himself was one who could act first and think later, but even he could accept to work with the enemy if it was necessary.

There again, Sasuke had a very personal reason to hate his brother.

What about Naruto? He had nothing against Itachi, at least nothing really personal. Akatsuki wanted Kyuubi, and thus would kill Naruto, but not because they had a grudge against the Jinchuuriki… simply because to extract the demon, they would stop at nothing. Even if that meant killing someone else to accomplish their goal.

Not that Naruto agreed with this vision of things –killing someone simply for power… he thought it was wrong. There were surely better ways to become strong.

There again, Naruto had often said that in order to protect his precious people, he would even kill whoever threatened them… but that need had never arisen. He had never killed someone.

'_Would I be able to kill if it meant saving the life of someone I care for?'_

The thought made him uneasy, but he refused to back down. He wasn't a coward, and he wanted to be honest with himself. Better to strengthen his resolve now than during a battle…

To save Tsunade, Iruka–sensei, Kakashi–sensei, Jiraiya, Sakura… even Sasuke…

There again, Sasuke had been hurt by Itachi. Yes, it was in the past, but even when they had met at that hotel, while Jiraiya and Naruto had been searching for Tsunade, Itachi had hurt Sasuke right in front of the blond teen… shouldn't he hate Itachi, then?

Frowning, Naruto tried to probe his feelings regarding the older Uchiha. No, he didn't hate him. Was that because Itachi had nothing _personal_ against Naruto? Wasn't hurting Sasuke something personal, then?

What kind of twisted reasoning was that?

And yet, somehow… it made sense in his head. If he tried to put that feeling into words, it only served to confuse him more, but… there was at least some difference between Itachi _'the person'_ and Itachi _'of the Akatsuki'_. Besides, Sasuke had every right to pursue his own revenge by himself, and although Naruto could try to steer him to a better path –one that didn't involve going to an old, perverted paedophile– that didn't give him any right to stop him.

What if Itachi had been a shinobi belonging to another Hidden Village, then? Would that have changed things?

Maybe not, maybe yes… he wasn't really sure.

Was it just the fact that he belonged to the Uchiha clan?

Sasuke had wasted a good portion of his life trying to get strong enough to kill Itachi, even going as far as to attempt killing Naruto, the one he's grown to call his best friend; but with this path, Sasuke would never grow strong enough… not by asking for borrowed power. Not even to a Sannin.

Did that mean that Naruto himself, who was trying to grow strong simply to get Sasuke back, was wasting his life? Was it different if Naruto was doing it out of friendship and not out of revenge and hatred?

But… Itachi was strong. And honestly speaking, almost too strong. He was older, stronger, seemingly faultless; different experiences, different life –born in time of war, taught how to hide and control his emotions tightly.

Sasuke wasn't able to control his emotions, even if at first Naruto had thought that –just spending time with the Uchiha had allowed Naruto to learn how to read him rather well. He was open with his emotions, by all those small details that Naruto noticed.

In the end, Sasuke had allowed his emotions to cloud his better judgement and pushed him to the wrong path… right in the opened arms of Orochimaru.

Ewww, what a horrible mental image.

Sasuke was not, and could never be, Itachi.

Coddled by the village, fuelled by hatred, growing up like that… Sasuke was Sasuke, and yet he desperately tried to become his brother, even though he acted out of hatred… surrogate powers would never be enough. _Never_.

Besides, Naruto didn't hate Sasuke for trying to kill him –for getting _so close_ to killing him. the same way he couldn't hate Itachi because his organization wanted to extract the demon from him, and thus kill him.

Of course that made more sense in his mind, but alas.

And… and there was something fishy about the Uchiha clan. Something that he couldn't understand nor explain –a flicker of his sixth sense, perhaps. He didn't know, but it made his skin prickle unpleasantly.

How could Naruto decide that Itachi's behaviour in general was wrong simply by hearing what others had to say about it? He had allowed others a chance, after all –Gaara had killed his uncle and so many others, and yet Naruto had offered him a hand and his friendship.

He still didn't condone the lives Gaara had taken, but he didn't condemn him either. They were friends.

Neji had thought he was an inferior being, but Naruto had beaten the truth into the Hyuuga, grabbing his twisted feelings and pulling them out of the older teen, and then he had offered him a hand.

Both Gaara and Neji had accepted.

Haku and Zabuza…

Hadn't Zabuza being known everywhere for being a demon? A ruthless killer? And yet, he had taken in Haku when no one else had, and Haku had loved Zabuza deeply for that. They had been his enemies, but Naruto had discovered then that the world was not black and white. It was so easy to forget it, but back then, he had grown to like and understand the two simply because they had opened up to him.

Naruto had offered his hand to both, but Haku had refused it and had died to protect Zabuza, and Zabuza had refused it and sacrificed his own life to join Haku in death.

Sasuke had rejected Naruto's offered friendship because he was still walking in the shadow of his older brother… but Sasuke was still alive. There was still hope, in the end, for him to accept.

Had Naruto been alone, without Iruka or Sandaime… he would have been like all of them. They had been forced down a path and then all of them –Haku, Zabuza, Neji, Gaara, even Tsunade– had then repented.

Maybe… maybe Itachi had a reason, too, that Naruto couldn't understand. And maybe he would never share it or agree with what the older man had done, but… but he didn't _understand_ it, and he wanted to.

'_Sasuke would kill me if he knew what I am thinking…'_ Naruto stifled a chuckle at that. He was really thinking about trying to understand the veiled mystery that was Uchiha Itachi?

But Sasuke was with Orochimaru, and Itachi was… closer. Right at Naruto's side, and until they returned to the right time, the two would have to coexist together.

Was that enough of a reason to try and understand the older Uchiha?

Sasuke would want to kill him for even trying, but there again, Naruto didn't want to be in the middle of a stupid family feud. Hadn't it been Naruto, Sasuke would have tried (and maybe succeeded, who knew?) to kill someone else. Naruto had been equally stubborn, simply because for him, an Uchiha was just like any other ninja.

He wondered if someone else would have given the same importance to Sasuke as he did.

Maybe, maybe not.

In the end, whatever conclusion the two brothers reached, Naruto would not allow himself to be part of it; if Sasuke came back home, Naruto would welcome him, but… could he even do anything more than that?

If he chased him around endlessly, following any trail possible… would that still make Sasuke come back, or would that only push him further away from Konoha, from _him_?

He couldn't chase Sasuke who was chasing Itachi. Who, almost comically, was chasing Naruto.

Almost amusing. Almost.

Besides, Itachi reminded him of…

"You're similar to him, in a way," Naruto murmured, unaware that he'd spoken aloud, attracting Itachi's attention.

The other shinobi had been prodding at his seal, lost in thought, but Naruto's words made him stop –who was Naruto referring to?

Well, probably Sasuke, who else.

He was deeply wrong, though… Sasuke was nothing like him.

"I am not my brother," he replied just as quietly, a flicker of annoyance in his black eyes.

Suddenly realising where he was again, and that Itachi was now staring right at him, Naruto blinked, then snickered, shaking his head in mirth, not bothered at all that he'd been speaking loudly instead of just thinking.

"Nah, you're right… Sasuke is nothing like you… you wouldn't have joined Orochimaru at all," he sighed, still smiling amusedly. "I am sure you're not into paedophiles… but that's not what I meant. You remind me of Zabuza, that's all".

Itachi was actually taken aback.

Zabuza of the Mist? The Demon Swordsman who had once been part of the Kiri no Shinobigatana Nananin Shuu? The thought that someone like Naruto would compare him to that man was almost amusing, especially given the fame the man had in the shinobi world.

Itachi had never met him, but Kisame had, once, been part of the Shinobigatana group, and often spoke about the other swordsman with respect.

He knew Naruto's team had met with the man, bringing him to his downfall –news travelled quickly, after all– but he was still curious as to why the teen thought the two of them as similar.

Itachi pushed down his curiosity before it blossomed enough for him to ask. It wasn't something he really wanted to know.

Naruto smirked, aware that he had surprised Itachi and feeling righteously satisfied for that; the two of them really were similar somehow, in more than just their reputation as skilled killers.

In order to graduate, Zabuza had exterminated all of his classmates, a feat no one ever equalled, thus gaining the name of Demon. Maybe that was why Naruto was reminded of Zabuza when looking at Itachi?

No, that wasn't all. Something else. Something deeper.

Zabuza… he'd been forced to act like that, and then, when shunned afterwards, he had grown strong to protect himself from others, refusing to believe in someone ever again –until Haku had arrived. And even then, Haku had been the only one Zabuza had allowed through his walls until the day he died.

Itachi had created new beliefs for reasons unknown to Naruto, but things had changed since then.

Naruto had learned much more from his first C–turned–A mission than he'd ever had during his academy days, first and foremost… never judge someone by rumours, never judge someone without knowing their background first.

Haku had died to protect his most important person, even if that meant going against what others believed in; Zabuza had lived all his life only caring about his own person, because ultimately, the world had disappointed and betrayed him.

Naruto respected both their views, even if he didn't share them –he still had hope for the people who had turned their backs on him, and he didn't think that dying would solve anything… Zabuza had been so hurt by Haku's death that he had joined him soon afterwards.

Haku had a bloodline for whom people had tried to use him or kill him.

Zabuza was still considered a demon, his name still made people shiver in fear and hatred.

Naruto knew better because he had wanted to know them. He had been the first to confront them about it, and want to know _why_.

Neither was, or had ever been, a demon or a monster.

They had followed a path forced upon them, but they had made their own decisions in the end… and no one would ever know.

Maybe… maybe Itachi had his own reasons for acting the way he had. For the massacre, for turning his back to Konoha, for acting cold and uncaring. Maybe he just needed someone to understand him, too. Naruto wanted to.

Prejudices wouldn't cloud his vision simply because he only ever heard one side of the coin.

'_I'm not excusing him for what he did, of course, but…'_ Naruto glanced up at Itachi again. _'But…'_

"One day," he muttered, ignoring Itachi's questioning gaze. _'I want to know. Somehow. Maybe it's good we ended up trapped in the past… it made me think. It made me want to __**know**__'_.

A wave of dizziness disrupted his thoughts and he swallowed, fighting down the nausea caused by Itachi's prodding. "Hey, stop!" he protested.

The older shinobi nodded, apparently satisfied.

"Do not use any chakra, if you don't want to start choking on your blood again… especially when I am not around".

Naruto rolled his eyes. He knew that already, he wouldn't try it. He wasn't a masochist.

Itachi pulled away and Naruto sighed, vaguely missing the close contact –he felt kind of cold despite the burning seal, and he had enjoyed the warmth coming from Itachi's body.

'_Gah, I'm really sick if I enjoy being close to that guy,'_ he scolded himself.

"I need to leave now, do not move from this room until I am back… I will probably return in the evening, so until then, stay put," Itachi ordered, standing up and moving to the door.

"Hey! I'm _so_ not going to stay here all day while you work your ass off outside and–"

The book Itachi had brought in before suddenly hit him square on the face, making him stop his rant with a squeak.

"Read this. It might hold some information on the Kyuubi that could be useful for our situation".

With that, Itachi left, locking the door behind his back.

"What the _fuck_!" anger boiled in Naruto's veins as he stood up, growling and throwing the book against the wall.

All his good intentions of staying put for a while vanished completely –he didn't like being told what to do, as if he was an infant who needed protection!

Itachi was treating him like a crippled baby. He couldn't stand it!

"I don't have to follow your orders, you damn Uchiha prick! You're not the boss of me!"

He wanted to leave and check out this time's village. and see Sandaime again –it was a one–life chance, he wouldn't just waste it because the Uchiha prick wanted him to stay home and be nice. He wasn't a dog!

He wanted to see how much Konoha had changed. He wanted to look through the Uchiha compound. He wanted to see everything and damn Itachi if he tried to stop him!

He so would not stay home and let moss grow on him like a Buddha statue!

Standing up, Naruto straightened and stretched his back and stomped to the armoire, opening it and taking out some of the clothes he'd seen there before. He knew better than go out with his current attire (even though it was different from his old one, it was still too bright), and the only blonds in Konoha were the Yamanaka and himself.

Picking a brownish shirt up he eyed it carefully, noticing with satisfaction that the Uchiha fan sewn on its back was small and it would be easily covered with a bandana. Pulling on the shirt and a pair of brow pants equally covered in dust (he shook them to get it off first, of course) he nodded, tying his pouch around his waist and hiding it underneath the shirt.

He would be better off by faking to be a villager instead of a ninja, so he untied his hitai–ate and left it on the desk, then wrapped a green bandana around his hair.

He had no chakra to spare for a henge, besides any ninja would notice chakra coating his head if they were to patrol while he passed by… too dangerous.

It didn't look bad, he mulled while watching his reflection in the mirror on the inside of the armoire; he looked normal, and his worn clothes would keep attention away from him.

"Well, what a surprise –I don't even look like myself anymore… maybe I should have tried dressing up long ago," he laughed at himself, moving back to the desk.

He'd seen various concoctions there before, and one of them was a camouflage cream. Carefully he applied some on his cheeks, effectively hiding his too–recognizable whisker marks, and nodded.

Perfect. He just had to keep his eyes low –blue wasn't uncommon, opposite to the far too rare blond hair colour, but his particular shade was a bit too bright anyway.

This was… a nice change, for once. Why had he never tried non–orange colours before?

'_Ok, I'll just have a quick walk around, no need to be picky,'_ he assured himself, knowing he still had to be wary of this Konoha. _'It's better I keep away from Sasuke or the people I know from my time, at least for now. I'll just have a walk around…'_

He sneaked out of the window, leaving it barely open as he would need a way back into the room without having to go through the entire compound –besides, Itachi had locked the door.

Checking everywhere to see if someone was around, he finally let himself slide down to the ground.

As he looked at his surroundings, he felt a strong sense of excitement wash through him. he was going to scout around and nobody was going to stop him!

"Here I come, Konoha of the past!" he stated, grinning and pumping his fist in the air.

…–…–…–…

"Sasuke–kun, please stop running around!"

Itachi was sitting on a tall tree, hiding within the highest branches, so still he could have easily passed for a statue, back firmly pressed against the trunk, and his eyes were fixed on the window in front of him –or to be more exact, on the people inside the room.

He was tense, terribly so, knuckles white in his lap, the muscles around his eyes tight as he fought against activating his Doujutsu, yet on the outside he looked completely relaxed. He knew he should not be there, but he could not move –could not look away.

"I said stop! Be a good boy, Sasuke!" a tall woman with silky black hair was moving around in the room, chasing a small boy who was giggling happily at her.

Itachi's eyes were focused solely on the woman, unwavering, carefully burning into memory her expressions as she stumbled, following her son; the warm, indulgent smiles that made her look half her age, the small wrinkle at the side of her mouth as she grinned, the way her eyes sparkled with love and affection…

Under Itachi's eyes, Mikoto finally caught Sasuke, holding him close to her chest and showering him with small kisses, smiling when he giggled, fidgeted and pouted at the onslaught.

Itachi wasn't even sparing a glance at the small Sasuke. He was watching his mother instead, unable to look away even as his chest ached at the sight.

"Sasuke–kun, stop playing around now, ok? Your brother will be home soon, so be a good boy!"

"Yes, mother! He promised he would train with me today!" Sasuke wriggled out of his mother's arms and tugged at her hand, smiling happily all the while, eyes shining brightly.

The kind woman smiled back at him, clearly satisfied to see her younger son's eyes fill with such love for his older sibling.

Mikoto's words shook Itachi out of his trance and he flinched minutely, finally snapping out of his staring. Blinking twice, he stood straighter, and with a fluid motion he stepped out from the branch he was on.

He hadn't realised how much time he had wasted (spent) watching that woman.

Without further ado, he slid backwards, hiding away in the leaves and teleporting away from the Uchiha Main House's garden.

Seconds later a young figure, another Itachi but younger in appearance (with eyes still older than his age), appeared in front of the house and slid open the door, silently stepping inside and offering his mother a small nod, muttering a quiet "Tadaima".

…–…–…–…–…–…–…

**StarsOfYaoi:** well, I guess I don't need to ask you to review :) if you feel up to, please do and tell me if you liked!

_**Glossary: (to those that are not familiar with Japanese)**_

_Kaminari no Kuni_ – Land of Thunder.

_Iryo–nin_ – medic–nin.

_Kiri no Shinobigatana Nananin Shuu_– Seven Swordsmen of Mist. Kisame and Zabuza were part of that group.

_Raikage_ – Kumogakure's Kage.

_Kumogakure_ – Hidden in the Clouds.

_Jinchuuriki_ – Human sacrifice.

_Bijuu_ – Tailed Demon. In the Japanese mythology there are nine demons each one with a special power and a certain number of tails. Ichibi no Shukaku is the first and in Naruto manga it's Gaara's demon –a Tanuki. Then there is Nibi no Nekomata, the second one (in form of a cat), and then up to Kyuubi no Kitsune, the nine-tailed fox.

_Kekkai Genkai_ – bloodline. Strictly speaking, a bloodline implies a special ability that is passed through a family. Usually a family with a bloodline creates jutsu that can only be used with said bloodline, like Itachi's Tsukiyomi. The Akimichi do not have a bloodline, but their main technique, Baika no Jutsu, is used mainly by them because they created it and own it. Sharingan and Byakugan are bloodlines, and so is Haku's control over icy mirrors.

_Tadaima_ – it can be translated with 'I am back'. As a reply you usually say _okaerinasai_ or just _okaeri_, meaning 'welcome back'.


	5. 04: Dread

**Rewritten:** 10/04/2011

Once again, thank you for reading and reviewing :)

**StarsOfYaoi:** here you go, another chapter ^^ I hope you will enjoy it :D also, warning for villagers gossiping about things. Don't pay much attention to it ;)

…–…–…–…–…–…–…

**Rating:** M

**Summary:** (ItaNaru) During a fight, Kyuubi's chakra leaks out and causes a warp. Now, Naruto and Itachi are trapped into the past, and the only way to go back forwards is… to work together.

**Warnings:** yaoi, angst, dark themes. Flames will be used to roast marshmallows. Assumptions about the Uchiha clan will be present. Does not follow canon storyline.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto. Masashi Kishimoto does.

"Talking"

'_Thinking'_

–**Flashbacks, memories, dreams–**

…–…–…–…–…–…–…

**Endless Night**

**Chapter 04: Dread**

_It was surprising how, despite his betrayal, Sasuke was still in his thoughts._

_Jiraiya had been sure that Naruto would calm down and give up on his decision to get the Uchiha teen back to Konoha, but he had been wrong._

_The determination stayed strong, probably building even more instead of waning away. It was unsettling._

_It wasn't as if Naruto's life revolved solely around the dark haired teen, but a good part of his day was spent training because of him –even when distant from each other, clearly they were still tied together, their rivalry making them try harder._

_It wasn't just a 'I will fight with him when I'm back' kind of thing, nor was it a 'when I see him again, I will kick his ass so hard he'll never think about leaving Konoha anymore', either. Yes, Naruto did also say that, but there was more to it all the same._

_The blond had noticed that too. Walking down some random street in a village, he found himself wondering if Sasuke was walking down a similar street, enjoying being among people who did not know him at all._

_While eating an onigiri in a restaurant, he would smile at the fact that it was one of Sasuke's favourite foods, and if he bugged Jiraiya to eat ramen instead, he would remember when he begged Sasuke to offer him some at Ichiraku._

_At times, Naruto wondered if Sasuke ever thought about him too, but he'd always shook his head, knowing that Sasuke was too lost in his training –there was only one person in his thoughts, and it was not Naruto._

_The thought hurt, so Naruto didn't quite think about it too much._

_Training was hard. He had no one to compare with, no one to see if he was indeed getting stronger, or faster, or better, and every day he was plagued with fear that it wouldn't be enough –that it would never be enough._

_He was afraid –what if when they met again, Sasuke would still decide to stay with Orochimaru? Or worse –he was afraid that Sasuke would still be stronger than him. Then he'd lose, and Sasuke would disappear again._

_He didn't want that._

_Sasuke was… important to him. A friend he could confide into, a rival he could fight with, and now an enemy he had to bring back home –training solely for that. There was more to that, things that he was embarrassed to admit, even to himself –feelings that went deeper than that… it wasn't manly, he wasn't supposed to say that… but…_

_Sasuke was his most precious person. He had been so for a long time, and he hadn't realised it before. Now he was fighting for him, for the brother he'd never had, the friend he had wished for during his childhood, the rival that considered him as an equal…_

_The reason he kept fighting for him, despite being betrayed and almost killed, despite the pain…_

_A brother. A friend a rival._

_Wasn't it enough?_

_It wasn't._

_But Naruto knew, deep down, that certain things were just not meant to be._

_So he didn't dare venturing too far from that._

…–…–…–…–…–…–…

After only a few hours scouting through Konoha, Naruto was left quite disappointed.

It looked like nothing much had changed from this time and the present, and that left Naruto a bit baffled; aside from the Uchiha district, obviously, only a few things looked misplaced or weren't as Naruto remembered them to be.

Two clothes shop he'd never seen before were selling ninja outfits on a side street, and to his surprise, Ichiraku ramen existed already, although smaller and a bit newer than what he remembered.

The old man had apparently opened his store way back, and it was a shame he'd only started eating there after turning nine. What a waste of many years of delicious ramen!

'_Maybe it's normal for things to be the same… between this now and my present, only a few years have passed, right?'_ he tried to ignore the disappointment.

At least nobody had tried to speak to him –talking would mean interaction, and he could not allow it… even a short conversation with anybody could change the past… he had just wandered around without direction, trying to look inconspicuous.

He had seen people he knew, marvelling on how time had changed them (they looked younger, with softened features) and each time he had smiled slightly, feeling warm inside. He couldn't wait to be back to his time and be able to meet them for real, to see how much they had grown…

He'd seen Iruka, younger and not yet stern–looking, running around doing chores; he didn't remember seeing him this young before, but there again, Naruto himself had been young back then, and he hadn't met him yet… Iruka hadn't been in his life at that time.

He'd seen Chouji and Shikamaru playing together in a small garden (they had been friends since forever, really), and he had recognised Ebisu babysitting a four–years old Konohamaru, much to a younger Asuma's amusement.

If anything, Asuma had looked exactly the same.

Everything was familiar and reassuring. Well, except the age difference and Sarutobi being alive…

And… Naruto could still feel something different.

In his time, in the future, Orochimaru had caused Konoha to risk crumbling upon itself, and the village was still trying to recover from the attack that shook it to the roots… not to mention Sasuke's defection and the failed truce with Sunagakure…

The Konoha of his time was buzzing and pulsating with insecurity and fear, and yet it was fighting against all opposition to return to its previous glory.

This Konoha… this Konoha was in-between the Kyuubi and Oto's attack, standing in a relative peace, seemingly pacific. The villagers and shinobi were relaxed –it was different from his time, almost like something wasn't weighting down on them.

'_So that's how it feels like… a peaceful moment…'_ Naruto smiled warmly, knowing that back in his time, the whole village was working as one to gain this peace back. _'I will work hard, too'_.

"Sakura–chan~! What did I say? You can't run away every time someone bullies you!" a childish voice attracted Naruto's attention and he turned around, blinking in surprise at the sight.

There was a young pink–haired kid being pushed down the street by a very determined blonde; Sakura and Ino. They looked pretty friendly –so different from the Ino and Sakura he knew… Ino even looked protective over Sakura. That was really a surprise –Naruto had thought the two couldn't stand each other, what with the whole 'Sasuke–is–mine–you–bitch' attitude they had with each other…

"B–but they… they were mean with me!" Sakura whined, sniffling and messily wiping the tears away from her cheeks. "They say my forehead blinds them when the sun reflects on it!"

Naruto blinked, unsure. The Sakura he knew was strong. She'd grown strong since joining Team7, even going as far as to ask Tsunade to train her while Naruto was away with Jiraiya… but this young Sakura, despite being tremendously adorable, was a cry–baby.

He shook his head, amused by that, and snickered. He had been one as well… at least until before leaving with Jiraiya.

"Sakura!" Ino dropped the suffix with a pout. "You have to hurt them like they hurt you!"

Naruto smiled, tuning out what they were talking about and simply enjoying their interactions. It was a shame their friendship had fallen apart because they both liked Sasuke… maybe in those three years, they were back being friends? Naruto really hoped so. He'd have to ask Sakura…

"Look… it's that _demon_!"

Naruto stiffened.

With the corner of his eye, Naruto looked to the left, where a man with a bag of groceries was standing still, pointing at a small figure coming out from a side street and glaring at it while whispering in a low, hatred-filled voice to a middle aged woman at his side.

"I can't believe Sandaime–sama allowed that monster to enrol at the academy," the woman replied, hissing. "He's endangering the students like that…"

"Yeah, not to mention that little _thing_ keeps babbling on how he wants to become Hokage…" the man snorted, finding the fact terribly amusing.

The woman's lips twitched into a displeased grimace. "Yeah, as if a demon could ever have the heart and kindness it takes to protect Konoha… the day I see a demon as a village's leader will be the same one I kneel and beg for forgiveness at that monster's feet!"

While inwardly hurt by the offensive words, Naruto couldn't help himself –he snickered. He was perfectly aware that there was a new Kazekage in Sunagakure, and that woman was wrong; Gaara was a perfect Kage for his hidden village.

Even 'demons' could be strong and kind enough to protect their precious ones.

'_I wonder how Gaara is doing, though…'_ he thought, easily dismissing the two villagers. _'… whoa –I was really a brat back then!'_

His train of thoughts changed direction abruptly as he finally saw _himself_ walking down the street.

Naruto looked at his younger counterpart in shock, moving his eyes from him to his own body; had he really looked this small and weak? Terribly short and scrawny, eyes filled with anger, dressed with a shirt too big on him, fists clenched tightly at his sides.

Did he still look weak?

With a shudder, he refused to acknowledge the thought –he hoped not.

Still, it was probably something not many were allowed to see –how they had looked with an outsider's perspective.

If a brat this young trudged up to him to boast about his strength, Naruto would surely laugh at him, then –such irony. He'd been a big-mouthed brat, _for real_. Uh, not as cool as he'd thought back then, definitely.

'_What an embarrassment…'_ Naruto sighed, promptly walking away.

Still, he could understand why nobody had believed his boasting…

"Sakura–chan!" he heard his younger self call out in delight, and he couldn't help turning around, a bit surprised. Young Naruto had approached the two girls and was fidgeting, abashed. "Ino–chan," he added after a moment. "Can we play?"

Sakura's face twisted into a small grimace. "M–mom says I cannot play with yah," she murmured, unsure. "She says you're mean".

Naruto blinked. He didn't remember this ever happening.

"Mom says I can play with you if I want," Ino replied, sniffing and throwing her head back. "She says I don't have to listen to what everybody says!"

"B–but mom wants me not to play with 'im!" Sakura whined, trying to pull her friend away from the 'mean' Naruto. "She says he's scary! Let's go away Ino! Please!"

No looked rather torn, but in the end her loyalty for Sakura won over her nonexistent friendship with Naruto, so she allowed the pink haired friend to pull her away; young Naruto was left alone in the middle of the street, delusion painted all over his face, with a few villagers quietly snickering at his expenses.

Oh, that's why he couldn't remember –he tended to forget the times he's been rejected, it hurt less.

'_Well, now things are different… I guess I've grown used to insults, and they don't hurt as much anymore…'_ present–time Naruto sighed, turning around and walking away for real._ 'At least I found out that Ino's mom doesn't hate me. That's rather nice to know…'_

Naruto hadn't been able to meet many of his friends' parents, and the few he had met hadn't been quite as nice to him as their children, but he was grateful that at least one he hadn't met yet was on his side.

As for Sakura's mother, he had nothing against the woman, especially since when she had invited Team7 for lunch that one time, she had treated him normally, without any anger or hatred.

And her cooking was the best –period.

Kicking pebbles as he walked by, Naruto groaned. He was booored. There was nothing to do –no training, no chakra, and his wandering around had been useless, too.

What to do then?

'_Well, I guess I'm bored enough to go to the library…'_ perking up, Naruto smiled. _'I might as well see if there's something there about foxes or… I dunno, time travelling…'_

Well, boredom truly made people do unthinkable things.

Mind set, he stomped down the street, keeping his head low.

…–…–…–…–…–…–…

Itachi carefully lowered his chakra as he moved through the corridors of the ANBU headquarters –a place he had once belonged to– trying to maintain a low profile. He was fully aware that he shouldn't be there, and if caught, he knew what would happen.

Here lived most of the strongest ninja of Konoha, the ones closest to the Hokage, and in any other situation, it would be like entering into the wolf's den. It was too dangerous.

Still there was no other way –he needed to consult the ANBU's archive of scrolls and books for more information on both the RCS and the Kyuubi's powers, and he knew that anything written down on the fox would be into the ANBU vault.

His current powers were enough that he didn't really have to worry about the ANBU, and if it came down to it, he would be able to use a Genjutsu to preserve his identity, but he hoped it wouldn't be needed.

Rounding a corner, he found himself facing an apparent dead–end. Without pausing, he brought one hand to his chin and removed the Genjutsu on the wall, nodding in satisfaction when a door appeared on the previously empty wall.

This was the secret storage of the ANBU troops, where all S–class scrolls were stacked. Any off–limits books that contained vital information were placed there after the Hokage finished reading them and decided their danger level.

The room was of course protected with more advanced sealing than just a simple Genjutsu, and that place was only accessible to certain ANBU –their blood signature was required to get in, so unless in possess of a sample of blood to use, no one except few could get inside.

This of course prevented any stranger from using the knowledge against Konoha. Thankfully, Itachi's blood was still listed within the room's protective seal, though he had only been there twice during his ANBU service.

One had been with his commander, and once had been…

He shook his head. No reason to remember that time. No time to either.

He bit down on his thumb, tearing the skin and let the blood trickle down to his palm, tracing the ANBU symbol on the door before slamming his hand onto it.

The door shimmered slightly as crimson coils permeated with chakra spread from his hand to the whole wall; the sign was quickly absorbed and disappeared, and the glowing stopped. The wall looked perfectly normal, and yet, when Itachi pushed on the handle, the door slid open without a sound.

Nodding in satisfaction, he entered and closed the door behind his back, eyes adjusting to the darkness inside as he vaguely felt the chakra slither to hide the door from sight once again.

The scrolls were stored at the left of the room, but Itachi ignored them in favour of the bigger stash of wrinkled, old books on the right, knowing he had to start his search in there.

There were no records on Kyuubi no Kitsune other than the detailed documentation left during the Konoha attack and the few information that Sarutobi had piled up during the first years after the sealing, but those were not in there –the Hokage kept them in a secret place only he knew about.

Still, as he could not go to the hospital to check, and the Legendary Sucker was nowhere close to Konoha, this would be the best place to research.

Some medical books held too many detailed descriptions on jutsu and their effects, and had been deemed off-limits to normal ranked shinobi, and thus they would be in there –no knowledge was erased unless necessary.

Itachi flickered the lights on and grabbed a stool close by, sitting down and trying to make himself comfortable for his long stay; he didn't have much time and he would not linger too much, but it was rare someone checked on the inside of the room.

His Sharingan flashed back to life, memorizing page after page –it would probably be of use to him in the future, and he could very well learn as much as he could from the visit– but the first few books didn't contain anything useful.

Placing each book down with care he moved onto the next, his mind concentrated on what he was reading, the only sound in the room that of the pages rustling as he turned them.

A book on Nature jutsu –nothing he could use for Naruto's RCS.

The teen had been a surprise, Itachi found himself thinking as he grabbed another book.

Water jutsu and their properties –useless.

Naruto loved his village. It was clear. His determination to prove himself, his attitude… all of that reminded him of _someone_ he didn't want to remember –someone he couldn't bear to forget, even if at times he wanted to.

But he could not allow himself that comparison. Not now. Not ever.

Even considering the blond as something more than a human sacrifice would be growing too close, and Itachi had given up on this many years before, when he'd made his choice.

Even Kisame, his companion for the last five years, was nothing but someone he worked with, and that he somehow tolerated. When things turned too uncomfortable, he wasn't the one Itachi turned to. There was no one like that.

It would be wrong to consider the older man as anything more than that. They were not friends.

Shinobi were just tools of war. They got killed during missions.

He didn't want any unnecessary feelings to grow within him –like regret, pain or sadness. He'd given up on that long ago –it would only make things more complicated.

And yet, a part of him knew he had failed at that.

Kisame was already someone closer than a mere companion, although not as close as to be considered a friend, and to people outside Akatsuki, it wouldn't even be clear that they were companions.

Would he even _feel_ regretful if Kisame were to die?

A book on Earth techniques. Again, nothing interesting.

Well, a death was a death. He would probably feel the loss, and maybe it was too late to back away from their shared companionship.

He didn't like to think about it.

And Naruto. The teen was fighting so hard to live, and he would lose that chance once back to their time.

"_Little feisty bug, that brat,_" Kisame's words echoed in his mind as he continued his search, book after book after book. "_I knew someone like him once. I wonder what happened to him… it will be such a waste to see him die. He'd turn out a decent shinobi once he manages to keep his trap shut_".

He'd stated that, brash and amused, after their first meeting with the teen, when they had been forced to leave by having Itachi use Amaterasu. Apparently, despite wanting to cut Naruto's legs at first, Kisame had a soft spot for brats for some reason Itachi hadn't wanted to explore.

Itachi's eyes narrowed as his thoughts returned to the timeline. This situation would only be more problematic, at least if he remembered the dates correctly –and he _did_.

Naruto would be a problem, too.

Such an interesting teen, but anything Itachi said was strangely absorbed by the blond and treated like valuable information –he didn't think it was possible, but Naruto was actually paying attention to Itachi.

And that was troublesome.

He would need to be tight lipped and keep the other away as much as possible.

Placing down another book, Itachi absently picked another one up.

If he wanted to find more information on Jinchuuriki, he'd have to leave Konoha, but he didn't have time. So, he'd settle on information on the RCS and the methods to heal it, and then monitor Naruto for any difference that could be caused by the demon's chakra.

With that settled, he would be able to make the right changes to the jutsu and thus heal the teen –after that, they could start thinking about going back to their present.

Unfortunately, this would take a while –and he had no time to spare. Not now.

The next book was, fortunately enough, something useful. It was an extended essay on chakra types and variations, and which combination worked the best for the creation of jutsu.

Itachi had a good basic knowledge on that (any Jounin–level shinobi was required to) but a few pointers were unfamiliar even to him.

For example, whilst he knew how chakra types were closely related to the infamous Theory of the Five Lines –also known as the Theory of the Five Elements, the base for many religions and philosophies– he hadn't researched how the various elements were intertwined together or how they affected each other.

The basic theory stated that each element –_Fire, Water, Earth, Wind and Lightening_– gave strength to one and was essentially weak to another; drawing a five–pointed star, each element reacted to those closest to it.

Water controlled Fire, Fire controlled Lightening, Lightening controlled Wind, Wind controlled Earth and Earth controlled Water.

Similarly, Fire gained power from Wind, Wind gained power from Water, Water from Lightening, Lightening from Earth and Earth from Fire.

Then, each element could combine with others, effects varying from positive to negative depending on how far from the main element the others were.

Ice was a result of a person able to combine the elements of Water and Wind, for example.

Chakra pathways reflected the Theory, as each chakra had a great affinity with one element and a lesser affinity with another, so the person could have a better control on jutsu based on the element dominant in their own chakra.

Uchiha members tended to have a higher affinity with fire jutsu because their chakra type was Fire, and because of that, their efficiency with Water jutsu was really low.

If Naruto's chakra type was really Wind, as Itachi suspected, he would be able to control Earth and take power from Water jutsu, while he'd be easily overpowered by Fire and Lightening.

Though that didn't explain how Jiraiya's chakra had clashed against him.

Of course, the Theory didn't take into account demonic chakra; Kyuubi was originally associated with fire, so Naruto's chakra supposedly would fuel Kyuubi's, and yet the demon did not burn Naruto from the inside… the demon singed away anything at contact, so why not Naruto?

Was it because of Yondaime's seal? Had he taken the chakra difference into account when performing the jutsu? But then, that'd mean enough time to think things through, and he hadn't had any.

If Yondaime had modified the seal during the actual ceremony to fit the different types, then the man was a bigger genius than Itachi had thought at first.

Itachi stopped reading when he felt a strong twinge develop behind his eyes, and quickly deactivated his Sharingan, waiting until the pain subsided, then he stood up. He'd have to stop already, it seemed the time he could use his Doujutsu was getting shorter and shorter the more he abused it.

The Mangekyou Sharingan was a deadly technique, but it was a weapon that soon turned its back to its owner.

Eventually, he knew, he would completely lose his eyesight, as with every use the chakra burned the retinas, heating them and resistant to any healing jutsu.

Itachi had known this for years now, and had then started using the Mangekyou only for short periods of time, trying to not stress his eyes too much; he was also taking some medicine, and that was helping lessen the pain.

Placing all the books he had used back in the exact order, Itachi straightened and left the room, knowing he'd have to come back the next day. He took care to seal everything as it was before, hoping no one would notice anything.

…–…–…–…–…–…–…

Naruto quickly found out that sneaking into the library wasn't as easy as he had anticipated; many shinobi worked close to it, and the library was situated in a very crowded place, so normal villagers were also everywhere, and sneaking through would be easily noticed.

If he entered he would be noticed and maybe someone would inquire as to why a random foreigner wanted to visit the local library.

He couldn't be found out, as he had no records in Konoha (obviously, since he was still a kid at this point in time) and if arrested, he didn't have any ID either.

It wasn't worth it.

'_I wish I could at least use a Genjutsu,'_ he growled, suddenly regretful for his lack of ability over illusionary techniques. _'I swear, once I'm back, I'll study Genjutsu, no matter how hard it is!'_

With nonchalance Naruto circled the building more than once, and found his prayers granted in the form of an open window on the left side, right behind a pile of empty boxes of oranges from a nearby market.

Smiling brightly, Naruto checked around twice before slipping inside.

It quickly became clear that the search would be difficult –the library was big, almost enormous, and he didn't really know what to search for.

He had never been a book lover, and the few times he'd stepped into the library his goals had been focused on scrolls, not books, so now he was lost within shelves of volumes and books of all weights and sizes.

Things changed, though; during his trip with Jiraiya he had been forced to read by the older man, and not just his perverted books –books on techniques, books on martial arts and samurai, everything.

Slowly, Naruto had learned not to despise books, though he was still reluctant to approach them –old habits die hard, after all.

He walked down an isle filled with history books, but he didn't stop there, barely glancing at the titles as he searched for books on mythology –something like the one Itachi had dropped n him.

Or something.

He didn't know if there were books on demons that would mention their ability to travel through time –he didn't even know if they _could_. Was it only Kyuubi?

Without talking to the Fox, Naruto had no first hand help on this. He'd have to wait until he was healed, but maybe by then it would be too late, and he wasn't one to wait with his hands in hand, after all.

He could see it in his mind, moving to the help desk, asking the woman working there if they had any books on Fox Demons –he would be caught and brought to Ibiki for interrogation in the span of a few minutes.

Was Ibiki already top head of interrogation and torture squad?

He shivered. Definitely he didn't want to be seen…

"Ah, Hanako–chan, I see you're back here… still searching for that elusive romance book?"

Naruto froze and pressed his back against the closest stack of books. The voice came from the isle next to the one he was into, and he hoped the people there wouldn't move in his direction.

"Yumiko–chan, good morning!" a second voice greeted him back. "Why, yes, I finished the other one already, and I want the sequel!"

By their tone, the two were both middle aged women, but Naruto couldn't really see their faces, and he had no intention to move. It would be risky, and it'd look like he was intruding. The two were talking in a hushed tone, not loud enough that the others in the library would hear, but Naruto had a heightened senses, and he could hear every word.

"It's been a while, Yumi–chan, how are things with your husband? I heard he received an important mission from Hokage–sama… is that true?"

"Oh, yes, he came back last night, actually," the first voice replied grumpily. "He had to organise the whole ninja archive –an important job, but boring and tiring and it'll take him a long time to finish it all…"

"It must be awful to be the wife of a shinobi, though… I'm glad my husband is a simple merchant, really…"

Naruto inwardly groaned. Was he really stuck with two gossipers right on the other side? Maybe he should just continue through and ignore them since it looked like they were simply villagers and not ninja…

"Oh, yes, but he brings home a lot of juicy gossip, Hana–chan," the woman giggles conspiratorially. "He's been snooping around some of the folders, and with a good massage and a cup of sake, when he's home his tongue loosens up a lot…"

"Oh, hush Yumi–chan, don't you say that!"

Naruto rolled his eyes. _Really_. With that, he straightened back up and walked away, eyes already checking the titles of the books at his left and–

"Yes, he read something about the Uchiha family just yesterday…"

All of sudden, Naruto's attention was entirely focused on what the two were saying. _'Wait, wait, that's actually interesting…'_

"Is that so?" Hanako nudged her friend to continue.

"There was an attempt to hide a suicide earlier yesterday!"

Naruto's eyes widened; he wasn't expecting that at all –a suicide? In the Uchiha clan? And they had tried to cover it up?

Although Naruto despised useless chit–chat and gossiping, he had to admit that he, too, was rather curious to know more about that. Anything in regards to the Uchiha…

"Wait, what? A suicide? One of the family? Who? Why?" Her tone lowering even more, Hanako sounded definitely surprised. "The Uchiha are respected and loved by everybody, why would someone from their family _commit suicide_? What an embarrassment… it's obvious they'd try to hide it…"

Naruto scoffed, shaking his head. Yes, an _embarrassment_. What a stupid woman–

"Well, my husband said the Hokage is looking into it –the guy committed suicide by drowning himself, and that's suspicious, and the Uchiha are just hiding an in–family fight…"

Naruto sighed. He wasn't sure if this was even worth it. After all, he didn't really care about the Uchiha. He was more interested in Itachi and Sasuke.

"The guy who killed himself was apparently a very skilled shinobi called Shisui… my husband said he was known as Shisui of the Mirage," the woman continued, proud of her memory. "I heard his death caused an uproar within the Uchiha ranks and some members of the police force refused to believe he just went and killed himself… oh, and he was that kid's best friend, too".

"That kid?"

"Yes, the genius kid everybody talks about –Itachi–kun".

"Eeh? Really? I had his services when he was a Genin once, and since then I've been quite a fan of him… poor kid, always so quiet, and now his best friend dying like this…"

Naruto turned white.

Itachi's best friend.

_Suicide._

"_In order to be like my brother, I had to sacrifice the closest person to me –to gain the same power, my friend had to die"._

Sasuke's words echoed in his brain. Itachi had killed his best friend to gain what Sasuke had called supreme power, the same power he wanted as well, and for that reason, he had tried to kill Naruto.

Then at the last moment, Sasuke had wavered and spared Naruto's life, only to run from Konoha to join Orochimaru instead.

As Jiraiya had called it, the Mangekyou Sharingan –only triggered through the sacrifice of one's most precious person.

Uchiha Shisui was dead, and he'd been Itachi's best friend… so he hadn't committed suicide… he had been killed by Itachi.

'_I know I should be more concerned about the RCS, or at least try to find out how we ended up in the past, but…' _Naruto gritted his teeth, slumping against a book shelf. _'But… this is the chance I wanted, right? To understand what Sasuke went through… to see if Itachi had reasons for what he did'_.

His self appointed mission at the library aborted, Naruto slipped out from the same window he'd used to get in and sprinted through the street, jumping on a nearby tree and moving on the rooftops, directed towards the Uchiha compound.

He finally had a purpose, and that made things different; if the corpse had been found out only the day before, it meant he could spy on some Uchiha and learn more about it.

Besides, going back to the compound with a mission –another self-appointed one– made things different; he was finally able to do something constructive instead of just walking around uselessly, but it also made him extra careful of his actions.

If the rest of the Uchiha even vaguely resembled Itachi or even Sasuke, fooling them would be probably impossible, but he could at least try.

Perched on top of the wall surrounding the Uchiha compound, Naruto glanced around, wondering where to start; he really wanted to see this Shisui guy's face first, but he didn't know where he lived. The district was almost separate from Konoha, which meant there should be the house of the Head of the Clan, much like with the Hyuuga.

He had to find it.

Unable to ask for directions and not knowing who was the Head Clan, Naruto only had one chance, and that was to follow Sasuke's chakra trail from the small training camp he'd trained the previous day up to his house.

There, he could either follow his father around, or at least find out something about Itachi.

That he could do.

Thankfully, to track down someone by following their chakra didn't require him to use his own, and thus he would only need to keep himself hidden from sight and away from attention, and everything would be fine.

Tracking his way back to the small training grounds was easy, and from there, looking down from a rooftop, Naruto concentrated on the trail of chakra –he could recognise it easily, of course.

He tried to look inconspicuous as he closed his eyes and spread his senses out, careful to focus only on Sasuke's chakra.

A huge blob of mixed chakra invaded his mind and he slowly untangled all the different coils, tuning out those he wasn't interested in and only trying to recognise the one he was searching for; the job wasn't easy, especially with his poor concentration skills, but in the end he finally did it.

There he was –Sasuke's chakra thread.

The chakra was spread around in a mile radius from where he was standing, and he mournfully remembered what the man he'd met when in Kiri had told him –skilled ninja could follow a trail spread for over two miles, some even further than that.

Naruto was still quite satisfied with himself. He was slowly growing more powerful –when the man had started teaching him, he'd been only able to feel it for half a mile, so that was an improvement indeed.

Sasuke's chakra in this time was weaker than he was used to, and his signature disappeared between the bigger and stronger flares of older ninja, so it was still quite difficult to follow it.

'_Well then, I still found it,'_ pleased with himself, Naruto smirked. Sasuke was probably training at the moment, so he would let through chakra every time he tried a jutsu.

That would help.

Forcing his chakra down without touching it, Naruto advanced through the district, jumping from roof to roof and moving swiftly towards his goal.

If only finding his time's Sasuke was this easy…

Much to his surprise, his attention wavered when he passed by one of those old fashioned big houses he'd noticed from the window, and noticed a mob of shinobi, all belonging to the Uchiha clan, standing together in front of it.

They all looked rather angered, so he quickly hid himself behind the edge of a roof and spied them from there, his curiosity sparkling up and almost causing him to topple down the side of the house.

His heart racing in his chest, Naruto peeked from his hiding place.

'_What…?'_

"Stop, Itachi!"

Naruto swallowed on a suddenly dry throat and hid himself again, unable to believe his sheer luck; it looked like he was going to see something important taking place. Oh, yes, this was going to be _good_.

Hopefully.

Calming down his body, he peered down again, reassured to see no one had noticed him, and analyzed the situation carefully.

There were four men, three dressed with turtle–neck Uchiha shirts (two of which laying on the ground, as if hurt) and one with a Jounin vest, and then, in front of them, was…

Itachi.

The_ younger_ Itachi.

Naruto stifled a small chuckle at the sight; the teen looked exactly the same as his older version, if only shorter and a bit chubbier. What was he, thirteen something?

Same dark eyes, Uchiha clothes on, but there was something _different_ about him. his eyes were so cold, pitch black and sharp, and Naruto shuddered at the sight. He was the same age Naruto had been when leaving Konoha with Jiraiya, and yet he couldn't have been more different.

He was cold, restrained –unlike Sasuke too.

Naruto frowned, trying to focus on what they were saying, and flinched when the younger Itachi threw a kunai straight at an Uchiha fan on a nearby wall, his fiery eyes shining with more emotions than Naruto had ever seen before.

The man with the Jounin vest was staring at the teen with narrowed eyes, his pose tense, and Naruto tilted his head, feeling as if he was missing something important but unable to fully understand what he was seeing.

"… of my capacity," Itachi was saying, so quietly Naruto wouldn't have heard it had it not been for his keen hearing. "I've lost all hope for this pathetic clan".

Naruto gulped down his worry, wondering what would happen. Itachi's eyes were… were…

"You forget what is most important to you because you cling to something _small_ like your clan," he continued, eyes flaring into the Sharingan. Naruto could see it well from his position a fully grown Sharingan. "True change cannot be made if it is bound by laws and limitation, prediction and imagination".

The blond could not understand what he was talking about. Though the hatred of his words contradicted the emptiness of his tone, making Naruto wonder exactly what the teen really thought about his clan.

"_Your ideals… they are useless for a shinobi. As long as you keep unchanging, you will never truly explore your true potential"._

Naruto was reminded of the words Itachi told him before, on the short time they had talked with each other, back in the room.

"_Konoha dislikes the very essence of you," _he had continued. _"It will never allow you to reach the position you seem to crave so much. If you become strong enough to claim it, they will only fear you. If you grow weak, they will find you useless and discard you. If you hesitate, they will degrade you, and if you have no hesitation whatsoever, they will be quick to call you a monster…"_ and then he had added, _"and if you become the shinobi you wish to be, they will kill you –because you will be a threat. Shinobi do not have a heart"_.

What Itachi had said to him, and what this younger Itachi was saying now…

It was the same thing. There had been something in the older man's voice then, and that same 'something' Naruto could feel exuding from the teen's tone.

Itachi was truly feeling disgust by such ideals, or at least that was what it felt like… did he really believe that emotions caused people to waver. As if they made people weaker.

Naruto didn't agree, of course –emotions had made him grow stronger, because wanting to get Sasuke back was spurred by Naruto's emotions, and thus he was getting strong to follow his own desire.

The need to be on par with Sasuke, to be seen as an equal by him, to be respected and appreciated not just by his friend–rival–brother–something else… but by the whole village…

That was what made Naruto… _Naruto_.

He still couldn't understand why something felt off.

"What arrogance!" one of the older men hissed, in clear distaste.

The guy dressed as a Jounin kneeled next to the two fallen men, helping them back up. "Enough already!" he yelled, trying to look imposing but apparently unable to impress the teen in front of him. "If you continue this nonsense, we will have to take you to jail!"

There was a sudden chakra flare coming from three of the four, and Naruto had the distinct impression that they had activated their Sharingan, even if he couldn't' see it from his position on the roof.

"So what now?"

"We can't put up with you anymore!" the man with the longer hair growled, furious. "Captain… please order an arrest!"

Naruto leaned forwards a bit, eyes wide–

"Stop, nii–san!"

Naruto jumped, startled by the sudden intervention of young Sasuke, who had moved forwards from his hiding position behind a wall, and was running towards them, tears pooling in his eyes. So busy staring at the older shinobi, Naruto hadn't even noticed him there.

That was when Naruto noticed it –Itachi flinched slightly, and his demeanour changed completely; he had been clearly about to glare back at the offenders, but the moment he realised his brother was there, his shoulders sagged and his eyes concentrated on a spot at his feet.

Then he did something no one had expected of him – he slumped down on the ground, kneeling in a contrite stance, hands in front of him, bowing as low as he could.

His entire position was tense, yet he remained prostrate there, without moving, face hiding between his arms as the attackers stared at him in shock, as little Sasuke remained there, frozen, eyes wide.

"It is not me who has killed Shisui," he murmured, his voice mellowed out from his previous tone, that had been filled with disgust. "But for the words I have spoken, I am deeply sorry".

Naruto couldn't believe such an act –what had brought it on? Why this radical, sudden change?

It had been Sasuke. His younger brother's appearance had caused this, making Itachi not only take back his words, but react with that uncharacteristic bowing… Naruto couldn't see older Itachi doing something like that.

The Jounin stared in shock at the teen, expression unreadable, then the rage was drained away from his eyes, shoulders relaxing slightly as his stance changed. "Lately…" he started, attracting the attention of the others present there. "… he has been busy with missions from the ANBU, and has been worn out".

"Captain!" the long haired man exclaimed, surprised by his commander's change in attitude.

"The ANBU is a battalion under Hokage's direct authority… even us police forces cannot arrest them without an official order," the man replied, stiff.

Naruto blinked, surprised. He hadn't known Konoha ever had a police force… and that consisted in Uchiha family members?

Well, that explained why there was none at his time…

"Besides," the Jounin continued, "I will look over my son with full responsibility".

"_What?_"

Slapping both of his hands onto his mouth, Naruto hastily retreated behind the roof, eyes wide and heart racing in his throat, cursing himself for his reaction. He couldn't help it –he was really shocked.

That Jounin… he was Itachi's father?

That man was _Sasuke_ and Itachi's father.

After a couple of seconds Naruto's curiosity won over his caution and he peered from behind the protection of the roof again, daring to take a better look at the man he had previously barely acknowledged. Well, there was something familiar in him that reminded Naruto of Itachi, but not too much… and yet there was a certain affinity with Sasuke at the same time.

"Please," the man stated, shifting his own gaze from the other Uchiha and onto the ground.

He looked such a proud, confident man, and he was lowering himself in order to protect his own son…

And of course, he had to be important, because the other shinobi regarded him with respect.

"Captain…"

The men relaxed, although slightly, but seemed to accept the man's words, and finally backed off a bit.

"Itachi, let's go back in," the man –the father– stated coolly, clearly trying to control himself once again.

Naruto observed Itachi, the fact that his body was still tense, and when the teen lifted his head, his Sharingan flaring back to life as he looked at his retreating father, the blond Jinchuuriki could barely restrain himself from gasping at the glare.

Sasuke, who was still standing there, shocked and trembling, did not have Naruto's control and let out a gasp, eyes even wider, hands visibly shaking.

Naruto frowned. What he had just seen… he knew it had to be important.

Itachi had been accused of killing Shisui, that much was clear, but he had denied the accuse, and his father had sided with him. was it because he was his father or was it because he believed in him?

Itachi finally shifted and stood up, frame still tense, but his Sharingan deactivated and his eyes returned to their dark, black colour.

The three man backed down and left the family alone, not before glaring at Itachi and muttering something under their breath, and Itachi dignifiedly made his way back into the house, following his father who never once looked back.

'_If I hadn't followed Sasuke's trail, I would have never seen this… and this house… it's probably the biggest one in the district… so that means Itachi's father is the Clan Head… why doesn't this surprise me?'_ Naruto let out a soft sigh, retreating behind the roof and slumping down on it. _'Now I'm left with more questions… why does it feel like Itachi's words, although similar, don't hold the same meaning as what he told me yesterday?'_

He wanted to follow Itachi inside, he wanted to listen to what his father would tell him, he wanted to know more, to understand the mystery that was Uchiha Itachi…

But at the same time, he knew he wouldn't be able to do this much. There was still enough time before having to go back to the room and wait for his time's Itachi to come, but he needed to think about what he'd just seen.

Everything happened in a blur then –a hand curled around his throat, sizing him upwards into a tight grip, fingers sneaking in front of his mouth to prevent him from yelling, and another arm blocked his arms against a strong chest, a steely grip that didn't allow him to move.

A second later, he was viciously slammed down on the roof on his stomach, painfully aware that he had been caught.

'_Oh, shit…'_

…–…–…–…–…–…–…

**SOY: **I hope you liked this chapter, too :3 please consider dropping me a review if you did!

_The theory of the Five elements_ has two different versions. It's basically the same, but in one version, Metal substitutes Lightening and Wood substitutes Wind. This is the version that Kishimoto uses, though, so I will stick to this one.

The version Kishi uses also states that Wood is created by using together Wind and Water, so…


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